Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Dirigida por:
Quiero expresar mi gratitud en primer lugar a Daniel Prats, mi mentor y maestro, amigo,
director de esta tesis, a quien debo gran parte de mi desarrollo profesional y quien confió
en mí desde el primer momento, allá por el año 1988, cuando empezamos a trabajar
juntos y que supuso el comienzo de mis estudios de doctorado hasta llegar hasta hoy,
unos cuantos años más tarde.
A mis directores en Sadyt y Valoriza Agua, Manuel Rubio y Pablo Abril-Martorell, por
haberme permitido desarrollar con libertad estos trabajos de investigación en el marco de
nuestra empresa.
A los coautores de las publicaciones incluidos en esta tesis, que amablemente han
autorizado su utilización: Olga Barron, Ana Berreteaga, Brian Bolto, Stewart Burn, Elena
Campos, Irene De Bustamante, Carlos García, Jose Antonio García, Pilar Hernández,
Manh Hoang, Jose Antonio Iglesias, Javier Lillo, Francisco Molina, Frank Olewniak y
Daniel Prats, así como a los coautores de las presentaciones a congresos: Diego
Alarcón, Antonio Belmonte, Mercedes Calzada, Juan Luis Cano, J.L. Diaz, M. García,
Ana Isabel López, F. Macías, M. Mateos, J. Nieto, Carlos Segura, Roberto Sal, Raquel
Salcedo, Juan María Sánchez, Noemi Sánchez, Patricia Terrero y M. Veneros.
A mis colaboradoras más próximas: Mercedes Calzada, Elena Campos y Patricia Terrero,
quienes han sido parte muy importante de todos estos trabajos de investigación y su
desarrollo.
A José Luis Sánchez Lizaso por cederme algunas fotografías sobre salmueras y por sus
importantes estudios sobre el impacto ambiental de salmueras en el medio marino.
A las instituciones que han facilitado financiación para algunos de los proyectos: CDTI
(Centro para el desarrollo tecnológico industrial), NECDA (National Center of Excellence
in Desalination Australia), Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo y Ministerio de
Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente.
Y por supuesto a mi familia, por todo su apoyo y cariño, sin el cual ningún trabajo tendría
valor.
Con especial recuerdo para mi padre, Antonio, que ya no está entre nosotros, y mi
madre, Amparo, a quienes debo todo lo que soy.
"If we could ever competitively, at a cheap rate, get fresh water from salt water, that it
would be in the long-range interests of humanity which would really dwarf any other
scientific accomplishments. I am hopeful that we will intensify our efforts in that area"
“Si pudiéramos obtener, de forma barata, agua potable a partir de agua salada, ese sería
en los intereses de la humanidad a largo plazo el que realmente eclipsaría cualquier otro
logro científico. Tengo la esperanza de que intensificaremos nuestros esfuerzos en esa
área”
BWRO = Ósmosis Inversa de agua salobre (del inglés Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis)
ED = Electrodiálisis
EDI = Electrodesionización
GWI = Global Water Intelligence, grupo de comunicación y consultoría con sede en Reino
Unido, organizador de congreoss y editor de varias revistas y newsletters sobre
desalación y reutilización
HDH = Humidificación-deshumidificación
HERO = Sistema de ósmosis inversa de alta eficiencia (del inglés High Efficiency Reverse
Osmosis)
MF = Microfiltración
NF = Nanofiltración
OMS = Organización Mundial de la Salud
PV = Pervaporación
SPARRO = Ósmosis inversa con precipitación y reciclado de lodo salino (del inglés
Slurry Precipitation and Recycle Reverse Osmosis)
SWRO = Ósmosis inversa de agua de mar (del inglés Seawater Reverse Osmosis)
THM = Trihalometanos
UF = Ultrafiltración
VSEP = Sistema mejorado de membrana con vibración (del inglés Vibratory Shear
Enhanced Membrane Process)
WAIV = Evaporación intensiva con ayuda del viento (del inglés Wind Aided Intensified
Evaporation)
TRABAJOS PUBLICADOS
1) ”Project for the development of innovative solutions for brines from desalination
plants”.
Autores: D. Zarzo y E. Campos.
Revista: Desalination and Water Treatment. Julio 2011.
2) “Microalgae production for nutrient removal in desalination brines”
Autores: D. Zarzo, E. Campos, D. Prats, P. Hernandez, y J.A. Garcia.
Revista: IDA Journal of Desalination and Reuse. Marzo 2014.
3) “Desalination Techniques – A review of the opportunities for desalination in
agriculture”.
Autores: S. Burn, M. Hoang, D. Zarzo, F. Olewniak, E. Campos, B. Bolto y O.
Barron.
Revista: Desalination. Marzo 2015.
4) “Manual de buenas prácticas Inyección Profunda de rechazos de Desalación”.
Autores: A. Berreteaga, E. Campos, I. De Bustamante, J.A. Iglesias, J. Lillo y D.
Zarzo.
Libro: ISBN: 978-84-695-3633-9. 2012.
5) “7 year operation of a BWRO plant with raw water from a coastal aquifer for
agricultural irrigation”.
Autores; C, García, F. Molina y D. Zarzo.
Revista: Desalination and Water Treatment, Julio 2011.
TRABAJOS NO PUBLICADOS
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7. PATENTES OBTENIDAS ................................................................................. 97
8. FINANCIACIÓN DE LOS PROYECTOS ...................................................... 101
9. PROPUESTAS PARA LA CONTINUACIÓN DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN .. 103
10. BIBLIOGRAFÍA ................................................................................................ 105
11. PUBLICACIONES ORIGINALES .................................................................. 109
11.1. TRABAJOS PUBLICADOS ................................................................................ 109
11.1.1. PROJECT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
FOR BRINES FROM DESALINATION PLANTS ............................................... 111
11.1.2. MICROALGAE PRODUCTION FOR NUTRIENT REMOVAL IN
DESALINATION BRINES ................................................................................... 135
11.1.3. DESALINATION TECHNIQUES – A REVIEW OF THE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DESALINATION IN AGRICULTURE ........................... 153
11.1.4. MANUAL DE BUENAS PRÁCTICAS INYECCIÓN PROFUNDA DE
RECHAZOS DE DESALACIÓN ............................................................................. 193
11.1.5. 7 YEAR OPERATION OF A BWRO PLANT WITH RAW WATER
FROM A COASTAL AQUIFER FOR AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION .............. 237
11.2. TRABAJOS NO PUBLICADOS ......................................................................... 255
11.2.1. BENEFICIAL USES OF REVERSE OSMOSIS BRINES ....................... 257
11.2.2. R&D PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABLE TREATMENT OF ACID MINE
DRAINAGE WATER ........................................................................................... 258
11.2.3. DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE AND EFFICIENT SYSTEM
FOR SOLAR DESALINATION WITH ZERO LIQUID DICHARGE (ZLD). ......... 259
11.2.4. ENERGY RECOVERY AND OPTIMIZATION IN A BRACKISH WATER
DESALINATION PLANT WITH VARIABLE SALINITY ..................................... 260
11.2.5. TOWARDS A NEAR ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE IN A SOLAR-
THERMAL POWER INDUSTRY ......................................................................... 261
11.2.6. MODELLING OF BRINE DISCHARGES USING BOTH A PILOT
PLANT AND DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS ...................................................... 262
11.2.7. INNOVADOR PROCESO DE DESALACIÓN POR OSMOSIS
DIRECTA UTILIZANDO CITRATO DE SODIO COMO AGENTE
EXTRACTANTE. VENTAJAS E INCONVENIENTES. ....................................... 263
12. CONCLUSIONES ............................................................................................. 265
18
1. SÍNTESIS. RESUMEN DE LA
INVESTIGACIÓN
19
ABSTRACT
Desalination has turned into one of the world’s most important non-conventional water
resources in recent years, particularly relevant in places with water scarcity. Spain is one
of the 5 countries with largest installed global capacity and has a significant number of
large seawater desalination plants along with other installations for the improvement of
inland water quality.
Together with the great benefits of desalination (increasing water resources and
improvement of water quality), there is still ample opportunities for research and
improvement, especially in aspects related to the reduction of energy consumption and
environmental impact.
One of the issues which has generated most environmental concerns in the field of
desalination is the management and solution to the concentrate or reject coming from the
system, which is popularly known as “brine”. Brines from desalination plants are water
streams concentrated in the salts extracted from water and they can have very different
properties depending on the desalination technology used, the origin and physical-
chemical characteristics of the raw water and plant recovery (fresh water produced with
regard to water supplied), which determines the concentration of this stream.
Most of the research related to brine management is currently focused on the search for
possible applications of brines for economical commercialization, the extraction of
chemicals contained in brine or which could lead to the production of others or energy
production and improvement of energy efficiency in desalination process.
The present PhD thesis is presented by compilation of papers, a selection of works and
articles dealing with the alternatives for management and treatment of brines, based on a
number of research projects on this topic developed the time of this thesis was achieved.
These projects have covered most of the aspects related to the management of
desalination brines, including a study of alternatives for brine management, microalgae
cultivation for the elimination of nutrients in brines, the possible uses of brines and by-
products, the study of the technical and economical feasibility of evaporation-
crystallization for zero liquid discharge, the mathematical modeling of brine dilution, the
comparison of different desalination technologies, the use of emerging technologies, the
injection of brines in deep wells, the use of residual energy from brines for the reduction of
energy consumption, the direct use of solar energy to feed a membrane desalination plant
and the extraction of salts from brines with organic solvents.
As a result of the research works some papers presented at a number of national and
international conferences are also described, as well as some case studies on actual
installations, and the patents obtained are shown.
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RESUMEN
Dichos proyectos han cubierto muchos de los aspectos relacionados con la gestión de las
salmueras de desalación: estudio de alternativas, cultivo de microalgas para la
eliminación de nutrientes en salmueras, posibles usos de las salmueras y sus
subproductos, estudio de la viabilidad de la evaporación-cristalización para la descarga
líquida cero, modelización matemática de la dilución de salmueras, comparación de
distintas tecnologías de desalación, uso de tecnologías emergentes, inyección de
salmueras en acuíferos profundos, uso de la energía residual de las salmueras para la
reducción del consumo energético, uso directo de la energía solar para alimentar una
planta desaladora de membranas, y extracción de sales procedentes de salmueras con
disolventes orgánicos.
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22
2. INTRODUCCIÓN
23
Capacidad operativa de desalacion
100
90
80
millones de m3/dia
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Año
Entre las tecnologías disponibles de desalación, hay dos grupos principales de procesos;
los basados en evaporación, donde se obtiene el agua dulce evaporando el agua con
sales y condensando el vapor, y los basados en membranas, donde las sales son
separadas mediante procesos de membrana.
Los procesos de evaporación pueden operar por medio del aporte de calor (vapor
procedente de una caldera) como en la evaporación súbita (MSF-Multi Stage Flash) y la
destilación de múltiple efecto (MED-Multi Effect Distillation), o bien con el suministro de
energía eléctrica mediante compresión de vapor (VC – Vapor Compression).
Otros procesos que se pueden utilizar para la eliminación de sales como el intercambio
iónico, la precipitación o la congelación no se utilizan a escala industrial para la
desalación salvo en muy pequeñas instalaciones.
24
Distribución de la capacidad total
instalada por tecnologías
3% 2% 2%
7%
RO
MSF
21%
MED
65%
ED/EDR/EDI
NF/SR
Otros
Es también interesante conocer cuáles son los destinos del agua desalada. En la Figura 4
se representa la distribución del agua desalada en función de sus diferentes usos.
25
2% Distribución de la capacidad total
instalada por usos
1% 1% Municipal
6% 2%
Industrial
Centrales eléctricas
28%
60% Riego
Turismo
Militar
Otros
El mayor uso del agua desalada es el uso municipal, es decir, la producción de agua
potable para abastecimiento humano, con un segundo lugar ocupado por la industria. Es
de destacar que, mientras a nivel global el porcentaje de agua desalada para la
agricultura no representa más de un 2%, en España se supera el 22% (Zarzo et al, 2012),
con grandes desaladoras de agua de mar como la de Águilas (Murcia) que dedican la
práctica totalidad de su producción al riego agrícola, y otras instalaciones privadas y
públicas que suministran agua para regadío fundamentalmente en las provincias de
Alicante, Murcia y Almería.
26
Figura 5. Esquema de desalación por ósmosis inversa. Fuente: Prats, 2010.
Estas salmueras pueden tener características muy diferentes dependiendo del origen y
las características físico-químicas del agua de aportación, así como de la conversión de
la desaladora (cantidad de agua dulce producida respecto a la cantidad total de agua
aportada), que determina la concentración en sales de esta corriente.
27
- El origen y las características físico-químicas del agua de aporte al proceso de
desalación.
- La conversión del sistema (relación alimentación/producto), que determina el
factor de concentración de las sales.
- La tecnología utilizada (que influye en la conversión), la cantidad de sales que
pasan al producto y por tanto también las que permanecen en la salmuera, así
como en otros factores tales como la temperatura.
- Los efluentes de las operaciones realizadas en la propia desaladora que se hayan
mezclado con la salmuera del proceso de desalación para su vertido (agua de
lavado de filtros, productos químicos de limpieza de membranas, etc.), tras ser
previamente tratados, o no, en una planta de tratamiento de efluentes.
28
Tabla 1. Análisis de salmueras de agua de mar en distintos países. Elaboración propia
con datos suministrados por los operadores.
29
Figura 6. Salida de descarga de salmuera de la desaladora de Alicante. Foto cortesía de
Jose Luis Sánchez Lizaso.
30
Hay que tener en cuenta que las salmueras pueden afectar al medio marino de diferentes
formas: afectando al pH del agua, al oxígeno disuelto, a la concentración de materia
orgánica (que puede contener el agua de mar concentrada o los procedentes del
tratamiento de efluentes), a los sólidos en suspensión o nutrientes, o incluso a la
temperatura, en el caso de plantas de evaporación. El mayor impacto se produce
lógicamente de forma local en la zona de vertido, reduciéndose éste a medida que nos
alejamos de dicha zona, si la dilución se produce correctamente.
Desde el punto de vista químico las características del agua de mar son similares en todo
el mundo, con las diferencias regionales y sus características locales. No ocurre así con
las aguas salobres, cuya composición puede ser muy distinta en función de su origen, e
incluso variable en el tiempo, como puede ocurrir en casos de intrusión salina en los
acuíferos. En consecuencia las salmueras procedentes de plantas de agua salobre son
muy distintas, ya que no existen dos fuentes de agua idénticas. Debido a esta gran
variabilidad, podemos encontrarnos con casos muy diferentes, como por ejemplo
salmueras enriquecidas en iones concretos o incluso la presencia de tóxicos (metales
pesados, pesticidas, compuestos emergentes, etc.), que pueden complicar aún más la
gestión de estas salmueras.
En el caso de las plantas instaladas en interior, lejos de la costa, la solución para las
salmueras no es sencilla, haciendo inviables algunos proyectos de desalación por la
imposibilidad de disponer de un sistema de gestión de salmueras adecuado y viable
económicamente.
En la tabla 2 se presenta como ejemplo de planta de agua salobre un análisis real del
agua de alimentación de la desalinizadora de la Universidad de Alicante, junto con el
análisis de la salmuera producida y el factor de concentración.
31
Tabla 2. Características del agua de alimentación y salmuera de la planta desalinizadora
de la Universidad de Alicante. Datos extraídos del proyecto de investigación sobre
eliminación de nutrientes con microalgas.
Algunos autores (Latteman et al, 2008) han reportado asimismo que las salmueras
pueden contener trazas de metales (por ejemplo hierro, cromo, níquel y molibdeno)
procedentes de la corrosión de distintos equipos de proceso (tuberías, válvulas, bombas,
etc.), aunque estas cantidades no deberían ser significativas, ya que se trata de algo
excepcional y no deseado en el proceso. En la tabla 3 se presenta un análisis
comparativo de distintos metales en la captación y varios puntos de vertido de salmuera
en la desaladora Southern Seawater Desalination Plant (SSDP), en Australia; puede
observarse que la concentración de algunos metales en la salmuera es mayor de lo que
explicaría el factor de concentración, como es el caso de Cobre o Zinc, lo que tal vez
podría ser explicado por una posible corrosión, ya que estos metales forman parte de las
aleaciones utilizadas en los sistemas de alta presión de las desaladoras de agua de mar.
32
Tabla 3. Análisis de metales en agua de mar y en vertido de salmuera en la planta
desaladora SSDP (Binningup, Western Australia). Elaboración propia con datos
proporcionados por los explotadores de la instalación.
Para valorar la magnitud del problema de las salmueras, se debe considerar el volumen
de salmueras generadas. Haciendo un cálculo simplificado con los datos de la capacidad
total operativa (Figura 1) y los de distribución por origen del agua (Figura 3), podríamos
estimar que, suponiendo una conversión media razonable del 45% en las plantas de agua
de mar y del 72% en las de agua salobre, a nivel mundial podrían producirse en la
actualidad diariamente del entorno de 64 millones de m3 de salmuera de agua de mar y
unos 12 millones de m3 de salmuera de agua salobre. En el caso de salmueras de agua
de mar esta cantidad será realmente algo superior, por la menor conversión de los
sistemas de evaporación que no se tiene en cuenta para este cálculo simplificado.
33
Figura 8. Plantas desaladoras mayores de 100.000 m3/día en el área mediterránea.
Elaboración propia.
34
En la Figura 9 se ha elaborado un diagrama con los posibles destinos de las salmueras
de desalación, a partir del cual desarrollaremos los siguientes apartados y la estructura
de los resultados de esta tesis.
La práctica totalidad de las desaladoras de agua de mar vierten sus salmueras al mar, y
en el caso del agua salobre también la mayor parte de las salmueras son descargadas a
aguas naturales, mayoritariamente superficiales, o bien a sistemas de saneamiento.
35
etc., con el fin de determinar el punto de descarga más adecuado y con menor impacto.
En la Figura 10 se muestra en forma gráfica el resultado de uno de estos estudios,
mostrando en un mapa los sedimentos marinos, batimetría, materiales del fondo marino,
especies predominantes y su estado, etc.
Figura 10. Mapa-resultado de los estudios del fondo marino para el diseño del vertido de
la desaladora de agua de mar de Alcudia (Mallorca). La zona de color gris representa la
costa y los diferentes colores muestran los materiales y especies del fondo marino.
Fuente: Cortesía de Sadyt.
El impacto de las salmueras de desalación sobre el mar y los organismos marinos ha sido
ampliamente estudiado en el mundo y particularmente en España por organismos como
el Cedex y el Departamento de Ciencias del mar y biología aplicada de la Universidad de
Alicante, con numerosas publicaciones sobre los efectos sobre organismos marinos y
habiendo realizado el seguimiento ambiental de una gran parte de las desaladoras de la
costa Mediterránea (De la Ossa et al 2016, Fernandez-Torquemada et al 2007, 2009,
2012, 2013, Garrote-Moreno et al 2014, Sanchez-Lizaso et al 2008, entre otros.). Estos
centros de investigación han realizado numerosos estudios de laboratorio, experimentos
de campo y seguimiento de vertidos, lo que ha permitido establecer los límites de
tolerancia a la salinidad de varias especies marinas, entre las que destaca la Posidonia
Oceanica. Esta fanerógama, que está muy extendida por el Mediterráneo, se ha
convertido en uno de los principales indicadores de la afección ambiental al medio marino
de las salmueras por varios motivos: es una especie endémica, está protegida por la
Unión Europea, tiene una elevada producción primaria, estabiliza los sedimentos, es
hábitat para muchas especies, es muy sensible a los cambios de salinidad y tiene una
capacidad de regeneración muy baja.
36
programas comerciales, como el Cormix, quizá más conocido) que simulan el vertido y su
efecto antes de que se produzca (fase de diseño) y pueden ser asimismo utilizados para
realizar un seguimiento posterior del mismo con los datos obtenidos en campo.
- Control de la calidad del vertido (oxígeno disuelto, salinidad, nutrientes, pH, etc.)
bien en continuo mediante dispositivos medidores con comunicación a la planta
(boyas con sensores), bien mediante muestreos y análisis periódicos.
- Establecimiento de mapas de conductividades en la zona de vertido con puntos
de muestreo a distintas profundidades y distancias de los difusores.
- Comprobación de la afección directa sobre organismos marinos indicadores
(como la Posidonia Oceanica) mediante técnicas como la microcartografía) y
seguimiento de otras especies sensibles.
Otra de las posibles alternativas para la descarga de salmueras (en general para
instalaciones de interior) es la inyección en acuíferos profundos. Si bien esta práctica está
muy extendida en países como Estados Unidos, donde por ejemplo se utilizan para este
fin antiguos pozos de petróleo, se considera que es prácticamente inviable en España,
donde los organismos de Cuenca con toda probabilidad no lo permitirían dada la
dificultad de encontrar acuíferos totalmente aislados e impermeables que no produzcan
contaminación a otras fuentes de agua.
Las formas más comunes para evitar la precipitación de estas sales son el uso de
reactivos antiincrustantes (que son en general polifosfonatos, polimaleatos o
poliacrilatos), la reducción de la conversión del sistema (que va en contra de la economía
y de la reducción del volumen de salmuera) o el uso de tecnologías para reducir la
concentración de estas sales más insolubles en el pretratamiento (ablandamiento,
precipitación, etc.). Debe destacarse que en algunos casos el uso de polifosfonatos como
antiincrustantes genera problemas adicionales para el vertido de salmueras cuando los
requerimientos de vertido de fósforo son muy estrictos.
37
Algunos otros procedimientos para incrementar la conversión del sistema son:
38
2.2.2.3. Concentración por evaporación
Figura 12. Esquema de un proceso de evaporación con calor artificial. Fuente: Prats,
2010.
Los sistemas de evaporación utilizados para esta aplicación son en general sistemas de
evaporación por compresión de vapor (mecánica o térmica), con el problema de su
elevado consumo energético.
Las lagunas de evaporación han sido tradicionalmente la forma más sencilla de gestión
de las salmueras en interior. Se trata de almacenar los vertidos en grandes lagunas de
poca profundidad lo que permite su evaporación. En general tienen un coste reducido (si
39
se dispone de suficiente superficie disponible), aunque están limitadas a caudales
relativamente pequeños, deben ser ubicadas en lugares con la climatología adecuada y
tienen los inconvenientes de la necesaria impermeabilización y extracción y gestión del
residuo extraído.
Los procesos de lagunaje pueden ser mejorados con evaporación forzada incrementando
la superficie de evaporación bien por sistemas de aspersión o bien usando superficies
verticales de caída descendente donde se utilizan las corrientes de aire para favorecer la
evaporación.
Una variante muy interesante de los procesos de evaporación en lagunas son las lagunas
de gradiente solar. En éstas, que se dividen en tres zonas a distintas profundidades con
salinidad creciente al incrementarse la profundidad (zona superior convectiva, zona no
convectiva y zona de almacenamiento convectiva), se aprovecha el gradiente térmico de
cada una de estas zonas (generado por la irradiación solar, la profundidad y las
diferentes salinidades y densidades de cada zona) para generar energía eléctrica.
El destino más conveniente para las salmueras desde cualquier punto de vista
(ambiental, económico o técnico) es su valorización, es decir, la utilización de las
salmueras para su valoración económica y generadora de beneficios (comercialización).
40
2.2.3.1. Valorización de las salmueras en las propias desaladoras
1. Recuperación de energía.
2. Usos de limpieza en pretratamiento.
3. Producción de energía.
4. Producción de productos químicos in-situ.
1) Recuperación de energía
El uso más común y conocido de las salmueras dentro de las instalaciones de desalación
por ósmosis inversa es el de la recuperación de su energía residual. Dado que la elevada
presión suministrada en la alimentación de las membranas permanece en la salmuera,
con la reducción debida a la pérdida de carga del sistema y las membranas, esta presión
puede ser aprovechada para reducir el consumo energético de la planta. Para ello se
utilizan turbinas (de tipo Pelton, Francis, etc.), como se muestra en la Figura 13 o
recuperadores de energía como los actuales intercambiadores de presión (Figura 14),
extendidos en la mayor parte de desaladoras de agua de mar modernas. Lógicamente
estos sistemas son muy eficientes en el caso del agua de mar dada la mayor presión y
caudales, mientras que su uso y efectividad son menores y menos frecuentes en el caso
de las plantas de agua salobre (que trabajan a menores presiones y producen un menor
caudal de salmuera).
Figura 13. Bomba de alta presión con turbina Pelton. Desaladora de Alcudia (Mallorca).
41
Figura 14. Recuperadores de energía por intercambio de presión ERI. Desaladora
Southern Seawater Desalination Plant (Binningup, Australia).
3) Producción de energía
42
Figura 15. Esquemas de Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO y Forward Osmosis (FO) y).
Fuente: Alsvik y Hägg (2013)
A pesar de que esta idea parece relativamente nueva, se pueden encontrar referencias
de trabajos investigando esta posibilidad ya en 1954 (Pattle, 1954) y en trabajos
posteriores en 1974 (Loeb, 1974).
Las dificultades actuales para esta aplicación son el desarrollo de nuevas membranas
(las membranas de ósmosis inversa asimétricas no pueden utilizarse para esta
aplicación, ya que la dirección del flujo de agua es el contrario al habitual en ósmosis
inversa), los bajos flujos y la productividad, el ensuciamiento de las membranas, y en el
caso de uso de soluciones con alta presión osmótica (que se conocen como las draw
solution), encontrar las soluciones más adecuadas (y su compatibilidad con el uso del
agua tratada) y su posterior separación del agua.
Otras tecnologías como la Electrodiálisis Reversible (EDR) también podrían ser utilizadas
para la producción de energía usando los gradientes de salinidad (Tufa et al, 2014). La
EDR puede ser utilizada directamente o en combinación con otros procesos como se
describe en un trabajo de la Universidad del Estado de Pensilvania (Cusick, 2012) donde
se desarrolló una nueva tecnología (célula microbiana de electrodiálisis inversa (MRC))
para producir energía a partir de gradientes de salinidad combinando EDR y Células de
combustible microbianas (MFC). Aunque la aplicación fue desarrollada para soluciones
salinas de bicarbonato amónico y no para salmueras, podría ser potencialmente aplicada
a las salmueras.
Por último, otra tecnología descrita para la producción de energía a partir de gradientes
de salinidad que podría ser utilizada con salmueras es la del uso de un generador o
43
turbina sin membranas (llamado generador hidrocrático). Estos sistemas se basan en la
introducción de agua dulce y agua de mar en un tubo perforado que contiene una
pequeña turbina que es accionada por el efecto de ósmosis generado por las diferencias
de salinidad.
Los principales usos potenciales de las salmueras que podrían dar lugar a una
comercialización de productos o subproductos son los siguientes;
Las salmueras, como soluciones concentradas en sales, son una fuente potencial de
obtención de sales. Son muchas las aplicaciones para las sales presentes en las
salmueras: para ablandamiento de aguas duras, para la industria cloro-álcali, para
obtener sal de mesa, para la producción de detergentes, para perforación petrolífera,
para secado, etc.
La sal común es el condimento más antiguo utilizado por el hombre desde hace miles de
años y su influencia ha tenido implicaciones en la alimentación, salud, sociales y
44
económicas. A modo de ejemplo, podemos mencionar que en tiempos del imperio
romano la sal era tan valiosa que era utilizada como moneda o método de pago, lo que
supuso el origen de la palabra salario.
Entre otras, las principales sales minerales que pueden ser obtenidas evaporando agua
de mar (y por tanto salmueras) son (Aral et al, 2006): Anhidrita (CaSO4), Bischofita
(MgCl2 6H2O), Calcita (CaCO3), Carnalita (MgCl2 KCl 6H2O), Dolomita (CaMg(CO3)2),
Epsomita (MgSO4 7H2O), Yeso (CaSO4 2H2O), Halita (NaCl), Hexahidrita (MgSO4 6H2O),
Kieserita (MgSO4 H2O), Langbeinita (K2SO4 2MgSO4), Mirabilita (Na2SO4 10H2O), Silvinita
(KCl+NaCl), Silvita (KCl) y Thenardita (Na2SO4). En este trabajo se estuvieron analizando
las distintas sales que podrían ser obtenidas del agua de mar, así como otras sales
derivadas de NaCl o yeso.
45
La empresa Enviro Water Minerals, que tiene su principal actividad reportada en Texas,
de acuerdo a las informaciones de su página web (http://www.envirowaterminerals.com/),
extrae y consigue comercializar a partir de salmueras sal de alta pureza, cal, soluciones
caústicas, fertilizantes basados en potasio liquido como fertilizante, salmuera rica en
bromuros y lechada de hidróxido magnésico, utilizando para ello diferentes tecnologías
(stripping, electrodiálisis, ósmosis inversa, nanofiltración, intercambio iónico, eliminación
biológica de Selenio, cristalizadores de recompresión de vapor, crsitalizadores a vacío y
lixiviación hidrometalúrgica).
2) Acuicultura
3) Aplicaciones medioambientales
Aunque son muy poco conocidos, algunos usos ambientales de las salmueras como su
empleo en humedales, canales y como recarga de acuíferos están siendo explorados.
46
anteriormente (Malfeito et al, 2005). De forma similar, el vertido dentro de bahías
cerradas o puertos podría ayudar a la mejora ambiental de estos espacios (Gonzalez et
al, 2011).
Sin duda, el mayor proyecto de regeneración ambiental con salmueras será, si finalmente
se ejecuta, el conocido como Red Sea-Dead Sea, por el cual, una gran desaladora
instalada en el Puerto de Aqaba en Jordania, producirá agua potable para la región y su
salmuera será bombeada cientos de kilómetros hasta el Mar Muerto, para rellenar y
regenerar éste. Todavía no hay referencias escritas sobre este proyecto pero si
numerosas noticias en medios de comunicación y hay publicada ya una lista de
licitadores internacionales aceptados para participar en el proyecto.
4) Regadío
5) Industria
6) Otros usos
Otros usos de menor envergadura para las salmueras pueden ser el uso en hidroterapia,
el desarrollo de halófilos, la retención de CO2 por secuestración mineral, el control de
heladas y supresión de polvo en carreteras y viales, etc.
Como aspecto reseñable hay que indicar que la mayoría de estas aplicaciones requieren
pequeños volúmenes de salmuera (salvo la extracción económica de componentes), por
lo que no pueden ser una solución viable para la salmuera de grandes instalaciones.
47
2.2.3.3. Tecnologías emergentes
48
Tabla 5. Comparativa de las principales tecnologías emergentes
Tecnología FO PV MD CDI
Para extraer el Proceso de Agua salina Aproximación
agua dulce de la separación de precalentada y electroquímica
solución salina se membranas con permeado se inducida a la
utiliza un agente membranas no mantienen a eliminación de
extractante (draw porosas aplicado ambos lados de iones de
solution), con a líquidos una membrana soluciones
mayor presión miscibles. La hidrofóbica que acuosas. Cuando
osmótica que el separación se mantiene las se hace circular
agua tratar. Al produce por corrientes liquidas los iones
separarlos por medio de la alejadas de la cargados entre
medio de una aplicación de membrana. una doble capa
membrana vacío en el lado Debido al eléctrica
semipermeable, el de la membrana incremento de (electrodos), al
agua sin sales mientras que el temperatura y la hacer pasar una
Fundamento pasa hacia el permeado es fuerza conductora corriente, los
medio extractante recogido como de la presión de iones son
equilibrando los vapor el cual se vapor, el agua es atraídos por dicha
potenciales condensa como vaporizada en el capa
químicos. agua producto. lado de suministrando un
Posteriormente alimentación, agua libre de
hay que separar el difundida a través iones cargados.
medio extractante de la membrana y
del agua por finalmente
distintos medios condensada
(en general dentro del lado de
térmicos o de permeado frio,
membrana). dejando las sales
en el lado de
alimentación.
Altas separaciones Requiere menor Gran área de Bajo coste de
de sales, bajo calor latente que contacto de operación.
ensuciamiento de las técnicas de membrana, alto Fácilmente
membranas y evaporación y se rechazo de sales, acoplable a
potencialmente puede usar con pequeña energía solar para
menor consumo compuestos superficie producción
Fortalezas de energía. sensibles a la ocupada y fotovoltaica. Poco
temperatura. condiciones de ensuciamiento
operación por cambio de
moderadas, polaridad. Alta
capaz de integrar conversión (80%)
energías
renovables.
Flujos reducidos Bajo flujo de Bajo flujo de Los electrodos
(requiere más permeado, flujo permeado y agua, carbonosos son
superficie de de agua y ensuciamiento y los componentes
Retos membrana). estabilidad de la humectación del más críticos ya
Carencia de membrana. poro de que la capacidad
soluciones membrana, electroabsortiva
extractantes funcionamiento a depende de las
49
efectivas y no largo plazo y propiedades
nocivas y su ciertos costes de físicas (área
separación energía y superficial y
posterior del agua. producción aún conductividad del
por determinar. electrodo).
-Pressure -PV a vacío -MD de contacto -
enhanced osmosis -PV con gas directo
(PEO) portador (carrier) -Air gap MD
Variantes -Pressure retarded - MD a vacío
osmosis (PRO)
-Sistemas
Integrados FO-RO
Desalación, Desalación, Desalación. Desalación.
generación deshidratación de Contactores de
osmótica de disolventes membrana para
energía y otros orgánicos y separación de
Posibles
(MBR osmótico, soluciones soluciones
usos
tratamiento de azeotrópicas (por acuosas de
lixiviados). ejemplo orgánicos,
etanol/agua). desgasificación
de agua.
Pequeñas plantas Utilizada Laboratorio, Plantas piloto y
3
(<300 m /día), comercialmente plantas piloto y pequeñas
algunos para pequeñas instalaciones.
fabricantes deshidratación de instalaciones.
Situación
produciendo etanol e
actual
membranas. isopropanol. Para
desalación,
plantas piloto y de
pequeño tamaño.
50
Todas estas tecnologías han ido surgiendo en los últimos años con el objeto de
desarrollar procesos de desalación con un menor consumo energético. No es previsible
que el consumo de energía de los procesos de desalación pueda ser reducido de forma
importante debido a que con los nuevos avances técnicos de la ósmosis inversa
(membranas, recuperadores de energía más eficientes) se ha llegado a un punto próximo
a su límite termodinámico (que sería igual a la energía necesaria para disolver las sales
en el agua). Por tanto, no es previsible que ninguna de estas tecnologías pueda sustituir
en el corto plazo a la ósmosis inversa como la principal tecnología de desalación.
51
52
3. OBJETIVOS
Globalmente, los objetivos de la presente investigación han sido el estudio de las distintas
soluciones a la problemática generada por las salmueras de desalación, la determinación
de sus características y generación, su vertido, y las posibles alternativas para su
valorización. Como objetivos más específicos;
- Estudiar los potenciales usos de las salmueras y sus subproductos (extracción de sales,
acuacultura, producción de energía, etc).
En las tablas 6 y 7 se indica en que artículos y ponencias han sido desarrollados los
diferentes objetivos.
53
Tabla 6. Objetivos recogidos en las distintas publicaciones.
TEMÁTICAS
Identificación de
tecnologías de X
desalación y su
problemática
Estudio de métodos
de gestión de X X
salmueras
Estudio de los
potenciales usos de X X X X
las salmueras
Estudio de la
eficiencia de
algunos procesos X
para la extracción
de sales
Estudio de
aspectos de X
modelización de
vertidos
Desarrollo de
nuevas tecnologías X
y procesos
Aplicación a casos X
reales
Incrementar el
conocimiento sobre
X X X X
la problemática de
las salmueras
54
Tabla 7. Objetivos recogidos en las distintas presentaciones a congresos.
Identificación
de
tecnologías
de desalación
X
y su
problemática
Estudio de
métodos de
gestión de
X X X X
salmueras
Estudio de los
potenciales
usos de las
X X
salmueras
Estudio de la
eficiencia de
procesos para X
la extracción
de sales
Estudio de
aspectos de
modelización
X
de vertidos
Desarrollo de
nuevas
tecnologías y
X X X X
procesos
Aplicación a
casos reales
X X X X X
Incrementar el
conocimiento
sobre la
problemática
X X X X X X
de las
salmueras
55
Tomando como base la Figura 9, se representan gráficamente en la Figura 18 los
diferentes modelos de gestión y tecnologías utilizados para las salmueras, resaltando con
fondo naranja los que han sido estudiados en las distintas publicaciones.
Figura 18. Sistemas de gestión de salmueras con indicación de los sistemas estudiados
en las publicaciones (resaltados en fondo naranja).
56
4. HIPÓTESIS
57
58
5. JUSTIFICACIÓN DE LA UNIDAD
TEMÁTICA
Los artículos publicados, que son la base del presente documento, se basan
fundamentalmente en la descripción de los resultados obtenidos en varios grandes
proyectos de investigación. El primero de ellos, ”Project for the development of innovative
solutions for brines from desalination plants”, describe la investigación realizada entre los
años 2007 y 2009 (“Proyecto de Investigación para el desarrollo de soluciones
innovadoras en la gestión de los vertidos procedentes de desaladoras”, perteneciente al
Programa Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnologías Medioambientales/Subprograma Nacional
de Tecnologías para la Gestión Sostenible Ambiental, con nº de expediente FIT-310200-
2007-225), siendo el doctorando el coordinador de dicho proyecto, y que contó con la
colaboración de distintas Universidades (Universidad de Alicante, Universidad Politécnica
de Catalunya, Universidad Complutense de Madrid y Universidad de Alcalá de Henares) y
centros de investigación (IMDEA Agua (Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados-Agua)
y CETENMA (Centro Tecnológico de la Energía y el Medio Ambiente de Murcia)).
59
5. Desarrollo de dilución avanzada de salmueras. Investigación y modelado de los
distintos parámetros y comparación con los modelos matemáticos existentes.
Cubriendo así la mayor parte de los objetivos propuestos para esta tesis.
Junto a los trabajos publicados se han incluido también una serie de ponencias
presentadas a distintos congresos internacionales. Todas estas publicaciones reflejan
aspectos de la problemática asociada a las salmueras de desalación, describen
proyectos de investigación o trabajos relacionados y profundizan por tanto en los
objetivos de la investigación. Son proyectos posteriores al proyecto inicial realizado entre
los años 2007-2009 (y además algunos continúan activos) y son la continuación del
mismo en esta temática general.
Otro de los trabajos que se han incluido en esta selección de publicaciones es el capítulo
preparado para el libro “Handbook of Sustainable Desalination” titulado precisamente
“Beneficial uses of reverse osmosis brines”, con el que el doctorando ha sido invitado a
contribuir por la Editorial Elsevier, como experto en la materia.
Las distintas investigaciones realizadas han dado lugar asimismo a dos patentes
obtenidas por las empresas que han desarrollado los proyectos, en las que el doctorando
es co-inventor; una de ellas basada en el desarrollo de una tecnología de extracción de
sales de salmueras con disolventes orgánicos y la otra en un proceso de desalación
alimentado por energía solar y con vertido liquido cero.
Como puede observarse, los trabajos presentados en esta investigación cubren la mayor
parte de las opciones para la gestión y tratamiento de las salmueras de desaladoras
descritas en la introducción de este documento.
En las Tablas 8 y 9 se muestran los diferentes trabajos presentados en esta tesis, con
indicación de las temáticas que son tratadas en cada uno de ellos.
60
Tabla 8. Temáticas sobre gestión y tratamiento de salmueras con indicación de las
publicaciones donde han sido tratadas.
Comparativa de
tecnologías
X
Descarga en
masas de agua
X X X X X
Modelización
matemática de la X
descarga
Estudio de
coeficientes de X
difusión
Inyección en
acuíferos
X X X X X
Concentración de
salmueras y ZLD
X X
Usos potenciales
de las salmueras
X X X X
Extracción con
sales divalentes
X X
Uso de
microalgas
X X X
Tecnologías
emergentes
X X
(*) se ha incluido este capítulo del libro (en preparación) dentro de la tabla de
publicaciones.
61
Tabla 9. Temáticas sobre gestión y tratamiento de salmueras con indicación de las
presentaciones en congresos donde han sido tratadas.
Comparativa de
tecnologías
X
Descarga en masas
de agua
X X X X X
Modelización
matemática de la X
descarga
Estudio de
coeficientes de
difusión
Inyección en
acuíferos
X
Concentración de
salmueras y ZLD
X X X
Usos potenciales
de las salmueras
X
Extracción con
sales divalentes
Uso de microalgas
Tecnologías
emergentes
X
62
6. DISCUSIÓN DE RESULTADOS
En este capítulo se describen de forma resumida los resultados de cada una de las
investigaciones realizadas y que se recogen en los trabajos publicados. Los resultados se
exponen por temáticas, siguiendo la clasificación de la introducción, en lugar describir
cada una de las publicaciones de modo independiente.
63
Como parte de estos trabajos, se realizó una investigación que incluyó un estudio
técnico-económico de las alternativas de desalación, ventajas en inconvenientes de cada
tecnología, problemática de las salmueras, etc., cuyos resultados son los que se
presentan en el artículo.
Tabla 10. Comparación de costes de inversión y operación con diferentes tecnologías (en
dólares australianos). Traducida y adaptada del artículo “Desalination techniques – A
review of the opportunities for desalination in agriculture”
Evidentemente, para la ósmosis inversa los costes del tratamiento del agua de mar son
mucho más elevados que los del agua salobre. En el caso de los costes de construcción,
debido a los materiales de construcción (las aleaciones anti-corrosión utilizadas en la
zona de alta presión, así como su presión de diseño), y en el de los costes de operación
dado que la energía necesaria para la etapa de ósmosis inversa depende de la presión
osmótica de la solución a desalar y por tanto de su salinidad.
Los procesos de evaporación, solo se utilizan para desalación de agua de mar, ya que la
energía necesaria para evaporar agua no depende de su salinidad y por tanto los costes
energéticos son iguales para cualquier tipo de agua.
64
Tabla 11. Idoneidad de las distintas tecnologías de desalación para distintas salinidades
del agua de aporte. Traducida y adaptada del artículo “Desalination techniques – A review
of the opportunities for desalination in agriculture”
Como conclusión a estos estudios comparativos, indicar que es evidente que la ósmosis
inversa es en la actualidad la tecnología de desalación más económica en inversión y
operación, con la que solo pueden competir la Electrodiálisis Reversible y la
Nanofiltración para aplicaciones específicas y de baja salinidad.
En la Figura 19, extraída del artículo, se puede observar los destinos de la salmuera en
las plantas de desalación de agua salobre de Australia, que son, en orden de
importancia: descarga a masas de agua dulce, descarga a redes de saneamiento,
descarga al mar e inyección profunda y aplicación al terreno.
65
Figura 19. Destino de las salmueras de desalación de agua salobre en Australia.
Con el fin de evaluar el impacto de las salmueras en las masas de agua donde son
descargadas, se han desarrollado una serie de modelos matemáticos para la
modelización del vertido y su dilución, que son útiles para la fase de diseño y
construcción y para el posterior seguimiento ambiental.
Con el fin de hacer una evaluación sobre la dilución de salmueras incluyendo todas estas
variables no consideradas anteriormente se realizó un proyecto de investigación (que
formo parte del proyecto “Soluciones Innovadoras para el vertido de salmueras
procedentes de desaladoras” de la convocatoria PROFIT, año 2007) que consistió en el
estudio de estos modelos matemáticos de dilución y se realizó en cooperación entre las
empresas Ecoagua y Valoriza Agua.
66
2 Axis y, width (m), pilot
Axis y, width (m),
0
prototype
plant
-2
Axis x, length (m), pilot plant
1. 3. 5. 7. 9. 11. 13.
5 5
5 Axis x, length 5
(m), prototype 5 5 5 Salinity
increased
(g/L)
11.5
0.4 9
0.3
0.2 7
0.1
5
0
-0.1
3
-0.2
-0.3
2
-0.4
0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7
1
67
determinar la dinámica y forma de la pluma de descarga de salmuera en el agua
de mar.
• Los resultados obtenidos en la planta piloto fueron comparados con campañas de
caracterización de la descarga de salmuera procedente de la planta desaladora de
agua de mar “La Chimba”, la cual había estado operando durante más de 5 años
(en el momento del estudio). La planta produce agua desalada y descarga su
salmuera al mar. Los resultados obtenidos en las experiencias de la planta piloto y
en las campañas de caracterización de la descarga de salmuera fueron similares.
• A diferencia de otras plantas piloto para simular vertidos de salmuera, el
procedimiento presentado no necesitaba tintes o trazadores tales como el azul de
metileno o la rodamina para determinar la pluma de descarga (aunque también se
realizaron algunos ensayos con estos trazadores). Esto es crucial porque los tintes
(que son descargas con sólidos suspendidos) no se comportan del mismo modo
que la salmuera.
• Se describió también una nueva forma de llevar a cabo la descarga de salmueras;
la descarga superficial. Mediante este procedimiento, la dilución de la salmuera en
el ambiente en el campo cercano se realiza de modo más rápido que con los
métodos de dilución tradicional de descarga sumergida.
• El uso del modelo matemático permitió modelar el problema de mecánica de
fluidos y analizar el comportamiento de la descarga de salmuera al mar por medio
de un sistema no lineal parcial de ecuaciones diferenciales con la interfase y las
condiciones iniciales. Futuros trabajos intentarán resolver el sistema por métodos
numéricos y compararlos con los resultados obtenidos en la planta piloto y en la
planta desaladora.
• En el estudio fueron cubiertos un gran número de aspectos: investigación en una
planta piloto, el uso de datos de descarga de salmueras de una planta de agua de
mar para validar los resultados y la modelización matemática de las ecuaciones
que describen el comportamiento de la descarga.
Otro de los aspectos sobre la modelización de los vertidos de salmueras que ha sido
tratado en esta investigación ha sido el del estudio de los coeficientes de difusión entre la
salmuera y el mar, realizados mediante la aplicación de interferometría holográfica y
cuyos resultados forman parte también del artículo “Project for the development of
innovative solutions for brines from desalination plants”. Estos estudios fueron realizados
por el Departamento de Ingeniería Química de la Universidad de Alicante.
La investigación se desarrolló por medio de una técnica óptica que combina la holografía
con la interferometría, permitiendo la observación de los cambios del camino óptico como
franjas de interferencia.
68
directamente relacionado con la concentración de la solución, es posible por tanto
determinar perfiles de concentración en procesos de trasferencia de masa (ósmosis,
ultrafiltración, difusión, etc.).
Utilizando este procedimiento, era posible por tanto el obtener el coeficiente de difusión
de la salmuera en agua de mar.
69
Una vez obtenido el coeficiente de difusión del cloruro sódico, el siguiente objetivo fue el
cálculo del coeficiente de dilución entre agua de mar y salmuera sin diluir, obteniendo en
este caso como resultado un valor de coeficiente de difusión de 1.27 • 10-5 cm2/s, valor
que puede ser utilizado para los análisis y simulación de la descarga de salmuera al mar
por medio de un emisario a través de difusores.
Una de las posibles opciones para el destino de las salmueras de desalación en zonas de
interior, que se ha utilizado en algunos países, es el de la inyección en acuíferos. Aunque
parece ser una buena solución desde el punto de vista económico si se cuenta con un
acuífero adecuado próximo a la desaladora, tiene numerosos riesgos ambientales que
hay que evaluar.
70
Figura 24. Inventario de los 590 pozos o perforaciones situados a menos de 20 km de
formaciones salinas.
71
El documento se estructuró en las siguientes partes:
- Prologo
- Resumen
- Introducción
- Fases de operación de inyección de rechazos
- Fase de estudio
o Fase de diseño
o Autorización
o Fase de construcción o ejecución
o Fase de operación
o Fase de clausura
72
para un sistema de agua salobre, donde las presiones y caudales de salmuera
son menores.
3. Realización de estudios hidrogeológicos en el acuífero para encontrar las zonas
más salinas donde poder verter la salmuera. Se determinó la zona más adecuada
para este vertido pero finalmente se optó por el vertido de salmuera por medio de
un colector hasta el mar, dado que ya había una instalación existente de otra
desaladora que fue compartida.
Estos estudios fueron completados con una campaña de exploración geofísica por medio
de tomografía eléctrica, tecnología basada en el análisis de la resistencia eléctrica de los
materiales del terreno.
73
Figura 26. Perfiles de salinidad del acuífero de Cuevas de Almanzora, en profundidades
de 0 a 70 m. Los colores indican resistividad, con rangos desde aguas con baja salinidad
(tonos rojos) a agua muy salada (tonos azules)
El resultado de estos perfiles condujo a la caracterización del acuífero con varias franjas
paralelas al mar de diferentes salinidades, como se muestra en la Figura 27.
74
Figura 27. Franjas de salinidad del acuífero de Cuevas de Almanzora paralelas al mar. La
tonalidades de azules más oscuros implican mayor salinidad.
75
- Han sido realizados rigurosos estudios hidrogeológicos los cuales ayudan a
controlar la explotación del acuífero y la extracción de agua para ser desalada.
Los trabajos llevados a cabo en la planta de tratamiento (ETAP) de Abrera, fueron los
siguientes:
Estudio de análisis de datos y conclusiones por parte del Grupo de Tratamiento de Aguas
de la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña.
76
Figura 28. Planta piloto de EDR situada en la ETAP de Abrera
Ya hemos visto que una de las etapas más importantes en cualquier proceso de gestión y
tratamiento de salmueras o cualquier otro residuo es el de su concentración o reducción
de volumen, que podemos llevar a su máxima expresión en los procesos conocidos como
de descarga líquida cero.
77
térmica solar de Lebrija. Esta instalación produce 50 MW de energía procedente de
412.000 m2 de espejos solares con la tecnología cilindro-parabólica.
Para cubrir las necesidades de agua (turbinas de vapor, torres de refrigeración, lavados
(CIP) y agua potable y de servicios) se instalaron distintas plantas de tratamiento
incluyendo una ósmosis inversa en dos pasos seguida de una electrodesionización (EDI)
para la producción de agua ultrapura.
La instalación de agua incorporaba como innovación el uso de una Electrodiálisis
Reversible para la reducción del volumen de salmuera procedente de la planta de
proceso hasta un nivel próximo al vertido cero, recogiendo tanto la salmuera de la planta
de ósmosis inversa como las purgas de las torres de refrigeración. Con esta medida se
consiguió reducir el volumen de vertido de salmuera a menos de un 2.3 % del volumen
total de agua aportada. Estos sistemas donde se consigue una gran concentración de la
salmuera pero sin llegar hasta un vertido líquido cero se denominan a menudo Almost-
ZLD o Near-ZLD (sistemas próximos a la descarga cero).
En este caso el reto era conseguir un vertido próximo a cero ya que la central solar
termoeléctrica se encuentra a menos de 4 kilómetros del Parque Nacional de Doñana, el
cual tiene lógicamente una alta protección ambiental.
En la Figura 29 se muestra el esquema de proceso y el balance de caudales obtenido.
Figura 29. Esquema del proceso y balance de caudales del tratamiento de aguas de la
central termosolar de Lebrija
78
Las conclusiones del trabajo fueron las siguientes:
La mayor de las plantas piloto utilizadas tenía una capacidad máxima de 100 L/h (Figura
30), aunque se trabajó en las experiencias con flujos próximos a 70 L/h. El evaporador
era de tipo flash, operando en condiciones de vacío y trabajando en rangos de
temperatura entre 40 y 60º C. El vapor era alimentado por una caldera alimentada por
gasóleo.
79
Figura 30. Planta piloto de evaporación-cristalización de capacidad 100 L/h, instalada en
Cuevas de Almanzora
S5
1200
1100
1000
900
800
Lin (Counts)
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
4 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
2-Theta - Scale
S5 - File: EAA6.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 4.000 ° - End: 80.000 ° - Step: 0.050 ° - Step time: 3. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started: 15 s - 2-Theta: 4.000 ° - Theta: 2.000 ° - Chi: 0.00 ° - Phi: 0.00 ° - X: 0.0 m
Operations: Import
00-041-0224 (I) - Bassanite, syn - CaSO4·0.5H2O - Y: 177.62 % - d x by: 1. - WL: 1.5406 - Monoclinic - a 12.02800 - b 6.93200 - c 12.69100 - alpha 90.000 - beta 90.183 - gamma 90.000 - Body-centered - I2 (5) - 12 - 1
00-005-0628 (*) - Halite, syn - NaCl - Y: 6.06 % - d x by: 1. - WL: 1.5406 - Cubic - a 5.64020 - b 5.64020 - c 5.64020 - alpha 90.000 - beta 90.000 - gamma 90.000 - Face-centered - Fm3m (225) - 4 - 179.425 - I/Ic PDF 4.
80
100
Conductividad (mS/cm)
80
60
40
evaporador
20
cristalizador
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Tiempo (h)
600
Concentración (mg/g)
500
2 h 8 h 18 h 20 h 27 h
400
300
200
100
0
Ca Mg K Na Sr F Cl Br NO3 SO4
La segunda planta piloto utilizada, de menor tamaño, tenía una capacidad de evaporación
de 7 L/h (Figura 34). Ésta trabajó durante las experiencias de modo continuo en
condiciones de vacío, y con rangos de temperatura entre 45 y 55º C.
81
Figura 34. Planta piloto de evaporación-cristalización de capacidad 7 L/h, instalada en
Cuevas de Almanzora.
Figura 35. Diferentes estructuras cristalinas de las sales obtenidas. 1: CaCO3, 2: CaSO4,
3: ClNa, 4: mezclas de cloruro sódico y sales de sulfatos, magnesio y potasio.
Las conclusiones de los distintos estudios y las experiencias en las plantas piloto fueron
las siguientes:
82
composición de las sales en base a los parámetros de operación. Es necesario
continuar los estudios y examinar todos los aspectos económicos del proceso
(principalmente consumo de energía).
La experiencia tuvo algunas importantes limitaciones para cumplir con los objetivos
fijados en la investigación:
Este proyecto fue desarrollado por medio de la cooperación de las empresas Sacyr
construcción, Sadyt y AGQ, junto con los centros públicos de investigación Plataforma
Solar de Almería, Universidad de Almería, Universidad de Huelva y Universidad de
Sevilla.
En el proyecto se trataron aguas procedentes de la Cuenca del Rio Odiel, en Huelva,
contaminada por aguas procedentes de minería por medio de distintos tipos de
tecnología: tratamientos pasivos (procesos naturales intensificados), tratamientos
biológicos y tratamientos de membrana (ósmosis inversa) con pretratamiento físico-
químico para la eliminación de metales.
En una de las ponencias a congresos presentadas en la presente tesis (“Research and
Development Project for Sustainable Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage Water”) se
presentaron los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación con las distintas tecnologías.
En el caso de los procesos de ósmosis inversa se pusieron en marcha varias plantas
83
piloto donde se realizaron las experiencias y en el caso de los tratamientos pasivos, éstos
se ensayaron en una mina real.
Las conclusiones de las investigaciones fueron las siguientes:
- El tratamiento pasivo DAS (sustrato alcalino disperso) a escala real instalado en
la Mina Esperanza demostró que la tecnología pasiva era viable para el
tratamiento de aguas ácidas de minería, mostrando excelentes rendimientos de
eliminación de metales sin presentar problemas de atascamiento.
- El proceso biológico activo resulto ser asimismo factible para la reducción de las
aguas ácidas de minería producidas en los vertederos de residuos mineros.
- El tratamiento físico-químico intensivo acoplado con la ósmosis inversa ha
permitido obtener efluentes de gran calidad. Una vez que los metales fueron
eliminados, la ósmosis inversa podía trabajar a conversiones superiores al 80%,
- Las tres tecnologías evaluadas en este proyecto han probado su validez para el
tratamiento de aguas ácidas de minería y pueden ser aplicadas a gran escala de
acuerdo a los requerimientos de cada localización.
Como continuación a dicho proyecto, conclusión del tratamiento de aguas ácidas
mediante membranas, y buscando la solución a la gestión de la salmuera producida (en
este caso tóxica, por contener metales pesados), se desarrolló un sistema de producción
de agua desalada alimentada por energía solar y con vertido cero. Se desarrolló un
prototipo de dispositivo de intercambio de presión vapor-agua (que ha sido patentado y
cuya patente está reflejada en el capítulo 7 de este documento) para alimentar una planta
de ósmosis inversa mediante energía solar y donde el calor residual del vapor una vez
intercambiada su presión se utiliza para la evaporación de la salmuera. El trabajo de
investigación se realizó inicialmente para el tratamiento de las aguas ácidas procedentes
de minería aunque tiene aplicación para cualquier tipo de agua, con la modificación del
pretratamiento necesario (que en el caso de agua de minería era más intenso y de tipo
químico).
84
En la Figura 36 se muestra el esquema del proceso.
Figura 36. Esquema del proceso de desalación con energía solar y vertido cero.
85
Tabla 12. Resultados de las experiencias con el prototipo de recuperador de energía
solar en la plataforma solar de Almería.
86
6.4. VALORIZACIÓN DE SALMUERAS
Dentro de los trabajos incluidos en esta tesis se han realizado algunos estudios
bibliográficos y de alternativas para la valorización de salmueras.
Uno estos estudios formó parte del “Proyecto de Investigación para el desarrollo de
soluciones innovadoras en la gestión de los vertidos procedentes de desaladoras” como
uno de sus subproyectos y fue desarrollado por el Instituto del Agua y de las Ciencias
Ambientales.
Asimismo en el capítulo titulado “Beneficial uses of Reverse Osmosis Brines” del libro en
preparación “Sustainable Desalination Handbook” se describen los distintos tipos de
salmueras y se analizan las posibles alternativas a la gestión y tratamiento de las
mismas, en un documento de más de 40 páginas con 65 referencias bibliográficas. Parte
de la información de este capítulo ha sido utilizada para la realización de la introducción
del presente documento.
Los resultados de estos trabajos han sido presentados en el artículo “7 year operation of
a BWRO plant with raw water from a coastal aquifer for agricultural irrigation” y en la
ponencia “Energy recovery and optimization in a brackish water desalination plant with
variable salinity”.
87
Si bien la recuperación energética en plantas desaladoras de agua de mar es algo
totalmente establecido (no se entiende una planta desaladora de agua de mar actual sin
recuperación de energía), su uso en sistemas de agua salobre está mucho menos
extendido y queda limitado a instalaciones de un cierto tamaño y con salinidad elevada.
En este caso se decidió la instalación del recuperador de energía entre etapas (interstage
booster) con el fin de equilibrar hidráulicamente las etapas de ósmosis inversa. En
plantas de ósmosis inversa en dos etapas con alta salinidad, la primera etapa tiende a
producir mayor cantidad de agua, llegando menor cantidad de salmuera a la segunda
etapa lo que provoca un desequilibrio hidráulico e incrementa el riesgo de precipitación
de sales en la segunda etapa. El esquema de instalación del dispositivo en esta
configuración entre primera y segunda etapa se muestra en la Figura 37.
Los resultados de recuperación de energía del sistema fueron excelentes, con una
recuperación que depende de la presión del agua de aporte (y por tanto de la salinidad
del agua de aporte, que es variable), con valores medios superiores al 30%. En la Figura
38 se muestra la evolución con el tiempo de la salinidad del agua, la presión de aporte y
la presión recuperada.
88
Figura 38. Evolución de la recuperación de energía con el tiempo y la salinidad del agua
de aportación entre los años 2006 y 2015
89
Los objetivos de esta línea de investigación fueron los siguientes:
90
4. Separación del etanol de las sales obtenidas; el agua remanente contiene
principalmente cloruros y nitratos, y a través de un proceso de destilación se
obtienen tres fracciones: agua destilada, sales y etanol
5. Combustión del etanol para producir el calor necesario para el proceso de
evaporación y la energía necesaria para el proceso de ósmosis inversa
La parte energética del proceso fue desarrollada a cabo por la empresa Valoriza Energía
(actualmente denominada Sacyr Industrial), que llevo a cabo un estudio acerca de la
disponibilidad del combustible y la selección de una turbina adecuada para la producción
de energía con etanol.
91
6.4.4. U SO DE MICROALGAS PARA LA ELIMINACIÓN DE NUTRIENTES EN SALMUERAS
Fruto del proyecto de investigación, cuyo objetivo era explorar los posibles usos para las
salmueras de desalación, se abrió una línea de investigación sobre la potencial
eliminación de nutrientes (nitrógeno y fósforo) en salmueras por medio del uso de
microalgas. El proyecto se realizó mediante la colaboración entre Instituto del Agua y de
las Ciencias Ambientales de la Universidad de Alicante y Valoriza Agua.
1. Selección de especies.
2. Optimización de laboratorio.
3. Experiencias en un reactor de 2 litros con 2 especies en condiciones controladas.
4. Simulación del proceso en exterior con reactores de volumen medio.
5. Desarrollo de una planta a escala semi-industrial.
6. Estudios sobre la separación de microalgas.
7. Estudios sobre las posibles aplicaciones de las microalgas separadas.
92
La salmuera utilizada para los experimentos fue obtenida de la planta desalinizadora de
la Universidad de Alicante y para algunos de ellos se utilizó como fuente de fósforo el
permeado procedente de una planta piloto de MBR (reactor biológico de membrana)
localizada en la planta depuradora de Rincón de León en Alicante.
Densid. Máxima
máxima conc. Elimina-
Exper. ción de % Elimina-
de de
Especie Operación nitatos ción de
/ fecha células micro-
nitratos
(células/ algas (mg/L)
mL) (g/L)
Exterior
Disconti-
Oocystis Septiem- 820.000 0,066 31,96 10%
nuo
bre
Interior
Oocystis Continuo 720.000 0,058 28,06 8%
Octubre
Interior
Disconti-
Tetraselmis Noviem- 426.000 0,085 41,53 12%
nuo
bre
Interior
Tetraselmis Noviem- Continuo 506.000 0,101 49,32 14%
bre
93
Fósforo soluble vs tiempo (Oocystis)
1,200
1,000
Fósforo soluble (ppm)
0,200
0,000
0 1 2 3 4 5
Dia
Figura 41. Evolución de la concentración de Fósforo soluble con el tiempo para la especie
Oocystis.
Las conclusiones del proyecto, incluidas en los artículos, fueron las siguientes:
94
En este caso la investigación trata sobre una de las tecnologías emergentes descritas a
lo largo de este documento, la Forward osmosis u ósmosis directa (FO). Se han
investigado diferentes membranas para la aplicación, así como diferentes soluciones con
alto potencial osmótico (draw solution). En esta primera fase de la investigación el
objetivo era encontrar una draw solution adecuada que posteriormente a la extracción de
agua del sistema fuera posible separar de ésta por medio de un sistema de ultrafiltración
(UF), para reducir así el consumo del proceso de desalación. Se experimentaron en
planta piloto diferentes membranas (Figura 42), así como diferentes soluciones
extractantes.
95
96
7. PATENTES OBTENIDAS
Fruto de los trabajos de las investigaciones descritas en la presente tesis se han obtenido
las siguientes patentes:
97
98
99
100
8. FINANCIACIÓN DE LOS
PROYECTOS
En la tabla 14 se muestran los distintos proyectos financiados que han dado origen a la
mayor parte de los trabajos presentados en esta tesis, y que han ido siendo
mencionados, con indicación de las entidades financiadoras en cada caso, fechas de
ejecución, etc.
101
Tabla 14. Proyectos de investigación financiados descritos en los trabajos presentados.
Entidad
Nombre del Financiadora Presupuesto
Programa Beneficiarios Subcontrataciones Periodo
proyecto (total o del proyecto
parcialmente)
Soluciones
Universidad de
Innovadoras
Alicante,
para el Ministerio de
Universidad Rey
Industria y Sadyr, Sacyr,
vertido de Juan Carlos, 2007-
Ministerio de PROFIT Scrinser, 6.200.000 €
salmueras Universidad de 2009
Medio Ecoagua
Alcalá, Universidad
procedentes Ambiente
Complutense de
de Madrid, CETENMA
desaladoras
Valoriza Water
Opportunities NECDA
Australia,
for (National
CSIRO
Center of Funding 2012 –
Desalination Excellence in Round 4
(Commonwealth ---
2013
958.00 Aus$
in Agriculture Scientific and
Desalination
Research
in Australia Australia)
Organisation)
Investigación
y desarrollo
Universidad de
de nuevos Sacyr Almería,
tratamientos construcción, Universidad de
Innterconecta 2012-
para la CDTI
Andalucía
Sadyt, Huelva, Universidad
2015
5.879.251 €
mejora de la Geomatec y de Sevilla,
AGQ Plataforma solar de
calidad de Almería
aguas ácidas
de minería
Desarrollo de
un innovador
proceso de
desalación
para la Universidad de
Alicante, Instituto 2014-
reducción del CDTI EEA Grants Sadyt
Vestlandsforsking 2015
558.282 €
consumo (Noruega)
energético
mediante
ósmosis
directa
102
9. PROPUESTAS PARA LA
CONTINUACIÓN DE LA
INVESTIGACIÓN
Aunque no todas las ideas para la continuación del mismo pueden hacerse públicas
porque implican informaciones potencialmente afectadas por la propiedad intelectual o la
solicitud de patentes, a continuación se mencionan las líneas de investigación que tienen
un potencial de continuación más interesante;
103
interesantes relacionadas con las tecnologías emergentes, considerando procesos que
combinan la evaporación con sistemas de membranas, como la pervaporación o la
evaporación por membranas y que podrían reducir estos elevados costes energéticos.
104
10. BIBLIOGRAFÍA
105
Bibliografía.
Al-Agha MR, Mortaja RS. 2005. Desalination in the Gaza strip: drinking water supply and
environmental impact. Desalination,173:157-171.
Allan GL, Banens B, Fielder S. 2001. Developing commercial inland saline aquaculture in
Australia; parts 1 and 2. Deakin (Australia): Fisheries research & Development
corporation; 2001.
Alsvik IL, Hägg MB. 2013. Pressure retarded osmosis and forward osmosis membranes:
materials and methods. Polymers, 5:303-327.
Aral H., Sleigh R., Simons Ll. 2006. Salt recovery strategies for new value-added salt
products. The Australian journal of dairy technology, 61(2):143-146.
Badruzzaman, M., Oppenheimer, J., Adham, S., Kumar, M. 2009. Innovative beneficial
reuse of reverse osmosis concentrate using bipolar membrane electrodyalisis and
electrochlorination processes. Journal of Membrane Science, 326: 392-399.
Cusick R.D., Kim Y., Logan B.E.. 2012. Energy capture from thermolytic solutions in
microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells. Science 335:1474-1477.
De Souza FI, Da Silva N, De Sousa ON, Cruz J, Medeiros AC, Nascimento VC et al.
2015. Agricultural potential of reject brine from water desalination. African journal of
agricultural research,10 (51):4713-4717.
Fernández Torquemada, Y; Sánchez Lizaso, J.L. 2007. Monitoring brine discharges from
seawater desalination plants in the Mediterranean. International of Journal Environment
and Health, 1: 449-461.
González, E., Arconada, B., Delgado, P., Alcaraz, A.A., Antequera, M., Fernández, Y.
Garrote, A., De Rico, S., Salete, E., Sanchez Lizaso, J.L. 2011. Environmental research
on brine discharge optimization: a case study approach. Desalination, 31; 197-205.
106
Garrote-Moreno, A., Fernández-Torquemada, Y., Sánchez-Lizaso, J.L. 2014. Salinity
fluctuation of the brine discharge affects growth and survival of the seagrass Cymodocea
nodosa. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 81: 61-68.
IDA, GWI, 2015. IDA Desalination Yearbook 2014-2015. Ed. Media Analytics Ltd, UK.
IDA, GWI, 2017. IDA Desalination Yearbook 2016-2017. Ed. Media Analytics Ltd, UK.
Khan SJ, Murchland D, Rhodes M, Waite TD. 2009. Management of concentrated waste
streams from high-pressure membrane water treatment systems. Critical reviews on
environmental science and technology, 39(5):367-415.
Malfeito JJ, Diaz J, Farinas M, Fernandez, Y, Gonzalez JM, Carratala A, Sanchez JL.
2005. Brine discharge from the Javea desalination plant. Desalination, 185,87.
Mukhopadhyay, D. (2015). U.S. Patent No. 9,073,763. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.
NSW public works. 2011. Brackish groundwater: a viable community water supply option.
Waterlines report series, vol. 66. Camberra (Australia): National Water Commission.
Pattle RE. 1954. Production of electric power by mixing fresh and salt water in the
hydroelectric pile. Nature;174:660.
Perez-Gonzalez A, Urtiaga AM, Ibanez R, Ortiz I. 2012. State of the art and review on the
treatment technologies of water reverse osmosis concentrates. Water research, 46:267-
283
Perez-Gonzalez A, Ibanez R, Gomez P, Urtiaga AM, Ortiz I, Irabien JA. 2015. Recovery of
desalination brines: separation of calcium, magnesium and sulfate as a pretreatment step.
Desalination and water treatment, 56(13);3617-3625.
107
Peterskova M, Valderrama C, Gilbert O, Cortina JL. 2012. Extraction of valuable metal
ions (Cs, Rb, Li, U) from reverse osmosis concentrate using selective sorbents.
Desalination, 286:316-323.
Ravizkya A, Nadav N. 2007. Salt production by the evaporation of SWRO brine in Eilat: a
success story. Desalination,205:374-379.
Sanchez, A.S., Nogueira, I.B.R., Kalid, R.A. 2015. Uses of the reject brine from inland
desalination for fish farming, Spirulina cultivation and irrigation of forage shrub and crops.
Desalination. 364:96-107.
Sánchez-Lizaso, J. L., Romero, J., Ruiz, J., Gacia, E., Buceta, J.L., Invers, O., Fernádez
Torquemada, Y., Mas, J., Ruiz Mateo, A., Manzanera, M. 2008. Salinity tolerance of the
Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica: recommendations to minimize the
impact of brine discharges from desalination plants. Desalination, 221(1-3): 602-607.
Tufa R.A., Curcio E., Baak W.V., Veerman J., Grasman S., Fontananova E., Profio G.D.
2014. Potential of brackish water and brine for energy generation by salinity gradient
power-reverse electrodialysis (SGP-RE). RSC advances 4:42617-42623.
Zarzo, D., Campos, E., Terrero, P. 2012. Spanish experience in desalination for
agriculture. Desalination and Water Treatment, 51: 53-56.
WHO. 2007. Desalination for safe water supply. Guidance for the health and
environmental aspects applicable to desalination. Geneva; Public health and the
environment world health organization.
108
11. PUBLICACIONES ORIGINALES
A continuación se presentan los trabajos publicados que han servido de base para la realización
de la presente tesis doctoral por compilación. Para cada uno de los trabajos se incluye una copia
de la portada de la publicación original y el articulo maquetado respetando la numeración y el
orden establecido para los capítulos, graficas, tablas y bibliografía de cada uno de los artículos.
Para la bibliografía también se ha mantenido el formato específico de cada trabajo.
109
110
11.1.1. P ROJECT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR BRINES FROM
DESALINATION PLANTS
111
Project for the development of innovative solutions for brines from desalination plants
ABSTRACT
One of the most important aspects of the desalination projects is the environmental impact, and
particularly the brine discharges. For seawater projects it seems that problem is solved or at least
controlled, by means of the usual practices (previous environmental studies, previous discharge
dilution, use of diffusers and other devices, location of the brine discharge and/or vigilance plans).
In the case of brackish water and mainly inland, the brine discharge is a very important problem
with a no clear solution. The main solutions used for these plants are: Discharge to the sewer nets
(with the associated problems at the recipient WWTP); Deep well injection; Zero Liquid Discharge
(ZLD) systems based mainly in evaporation-crystallization technologies; Blending with other
discharges (e.g. wastewater); Sea discharge, in coastal areas. Currently it seems that the main
R&D projects in desalination are focussed about energy consumption as well as brine impact
reduction. This paper will show a R&D project about innovative solutions for brine discharges. The
project is focused on developing systems with less environmental impact and technologies about
recovery and appreciation of salts from brines. The research is distributed in 5 different subprojects
all related with brines from desalination plants; 1) Development at pilot scale of a novel system for
recovery and valorization of salts from brines; 2) Study of technical and economical feasibility of
zero liquid discharge systems based on evaporation-crystallization technologies for brine
elimination; 3) Study about possible industrial applications of salts and other byproducts obtained
from brines; 4) Study of technical and economical feasibility of deep-well injection; 5) Study of
direct osmosis and other parameters over the dilution of brines in seawater and the modeling and
comparison with current mathematical models. This paper will show the results obtained for each
one of these sub-projects. This study involved 4 Spanish universities as well as other 3 companies
lead by Sadyt-Valoriza Agua. The project includes a patent for the technology and important
subsidies from the Spanish Ministries of Industry and Environment.
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1. Introduction
1.1. Background
The company SADYT (Valoriza Agua), together with the companies Sacyr, Scrinser (all from the
Spanish group Sacyr-Vallehermoso) and Ecoagua, agreed in 2007 to develop a Research and
Development program under the name "Research project for the development of innovative
solutions in the management of desalination brines". This ambitious project aimed to study the
problems of brine discharge produced by desalination technologies and innovative solutions to
minimize the environmental impact or even promoting brine reuse.
This project was designed for a period of three years and has received public funds of about €2.5
million from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and Ministry of Environment.
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The project budget was spread over the last 3 years 2007-2009, although it was officially
completed in March 2010 with extensions, was as follows:
2007 2,547,814 €
2008 1,823,814 €
2009 1,823,814 €
Total 6,185,442 €
Sadyt lead the project and assumed approximately a 60% of the budget.
2.2. Research about a novel technology for the recovery of divalent salts from brine.
Characterization and possible uses for brines and byproducts.
2.2.1. Objectives
The removal of salts from brines from desalination plants, to reduce the impact of the discharges
and to obtaining salts or by-products able of being reused. The purpose being to separate the salts
present in the brine with several objectives;
• increase the performance of desalination process (increasing recovery)
• Recovery of dissolved salts in brine for further reuse
• Elimination or reduction of discharges and/or landfill
• As a result of the process chosen, the production of energy from fuel from
sustainable agricultural crops (which can be considered renewable energy).
The technology used in this project is based on the salt precipitation from brines, mainly divalent
salts such as sulphates, using an organic solvent extraction. The idea is to remove these salts from
water to increase the recovery of the desalination system and secondly to obtain salts susceptible
to marketing (sulphates, nitrates, etc.). Since divalent salts the process is logically only useful for
water desalination systems for brackish water systems.
Different solvents have been tried for this purpose and finally it was decided to use ethanol, which
allowed the process costs to be recovered by means of energy production, although this is not the
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ultimate goal of the project it removes a part of the problem of brines discharge inland. Although
none of the used processes are new, extraction with solvents, precipitation, evaporation, etc. the
combination of method and application are new, so it has also been registered as a patent.
2. Partial precipitation of the salts present in the brine, mainly sulphates and bicarbonates.
3. The removal of these salts allows the continuation of the process of osmosis to obtain a new
fraction of desalinated water.
4. Separation of ethanol and salts present, mainly chlorides and nitrates, the remaining water
through a distillation process, which would be obtained three fractions: distilled water, salts and
ethanol.
5. Combustion of ethanol to produce the necessary heat for distillation and electricity needed for
reverse osmosis.
The process described requires in addition to bio ethanol, an injection of energy which is partially
electrical and heat. To obtain the energy needed for this process it must surely go to the use of
renewable energies and as we will need for the process heat and electricity, the best option would
be undoubtedly the use of a cogeneration plant
2.3. Study of technical and economic feasibility of the application of brines from
desalination plants for different uses (frost control, industrial applications, production of
brine and salts, etc…). Brine Recovery.
2.3.1. Objectives
The objectives of this sub-project is to determine the technical and economic feasibility of the
application of brine from desalination plants for different uses (frost control, industrial applications,
production of brine and salt, etc.) proceeding in this way to its recovery. Some possible applications
of these brines could be,
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2.3.2. Applied process
A report was completed as a result of the works coordinated by the University of Alicante, an
extensive document of 96 pages including a market study. The document analyzed the most
interesting aspects of the possible uses of brines and by-products as the following:
Annexes:
Following these studies and waiting for the results on other research lines that it could open up
market opportunities, the decision was made to open a new line of work based on the cultivation of
micro algae and their ability for the reduction of nutrients and/or salts in brines.
Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems are based mainly on evaporation-crystallization technologies
that combine both techniques to produce a solid residue from a liquid effluent. ZLD has been used
for different applications such as the reduction of different effluents; brines from membrane
technologies, refrigeration circuits purges, manufacturing process pickles e.g. olives, preserves or
oil, waste gas cleaning in power stations, coal or steel industry, wastes from metallurgical
processes, leachates or other difficult to treat effluents.
2.4.1. Objectives
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2.4.2. Applied process
Logically we knew that it would be very difficult to estimate costs of operation and energy
consumption based on pilot plant experiences, due that the scale economy and the limitations of
the pilot plants, but at least we tried to bring some conclusions from the research.
2.5. Development of deep well injection systems for brines with study of environmental
implications
One of the possible solutions for brine discharges in inland plants is to be injected into isolated
deep aquifers. This could be a viable solution in some cases, but ensuring that there are no
pollution risks for other aquifers. This form of disposal has been used in other countries (for
example in abandoned oil wells in the U.S.A.), but the few experiences conducted in Spain were
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not positive and there are even some resistance from the Spanish water authorities to allow such
solution.
2.5.1. Objectives
This research aims to assess the feasibility of the injection of brines in deep aquifers. In the first
part of the project in 2007, was focused on a rigorous study for a particular case in the Abrera
treatment plant (river water treated by EDR) currently in operation, but it was finally shifted to a
more general study of the possibilities of this solution in the whole of Spain.
• Installation of EDR pilot plant in Abrera DWTP (Fig.2) to evaluate the performance
of the installation, production and quality of treated water and brine.
• Hydro geological studies to assess the feasibility injection of brine.
• Conducting a study analyzing data and drawing conclusions from the Water
Treatment Group of the Polytechnic University of Catalunya.
• General studies about the situation of this technology in Spain.
Studies from the University of Alcala de Henares, with the following scope:
1. Bibliography
a. Legislation
b. Geological and hydro geological characterization, permeability of the hydro
geological units in Spain and location of aquifers with brackish water, which it may
be subject to application of desalination processes and generation of brines.
c. Information available on deep drilling for geothermal, oil and gas made in Spain.
Inventory of old wells from oil and gas in Spain.
2. Geological characterization
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a. Identification from existing maps of Spanish hydro geological units that could meet
the criteria of permeability and porosity adequate to support the injection of brines
from desalination rejection.
b. Analysis of temperatures and pressures of these units.
3. Hydro chemical characterization. A guide to define the methodology to be applied in the
analysis of the interaction between water injections - water-bearing formation water - solid
matrixes of the aquifer formation.
4. Control Program deep injection. Guides to regulate the technical documentation that it
should be developed to justify the suitability of the application of deep injection for
desalination reject brines.
5. Authorization procedure for deep injection. Review of the procedures used in different
countries for the consent of deep injection of fluids (any type) and the operations of artificial
recharge of aquifers (both to improve their quantitative and qualitative)
2.6.1. Objectives
This research line aims to evaluate the effect of some parameters about brine dilution in seawater,
and among others, the phenomenon of direct osmosis between brine and seawater. Concentrated
brine when it is discharged into the sea, it will result in an exchange of salts to balance the
chemical potential by transporting salts between the two solutions, thus producing a direct osmosis.
This is one of the phenomenon’s that has been investigated and how it affects to the mathematical
models of brine dilution.
1) Laboratory scale
At laboratory scale has been studied the diffusion coefficient between brine and seawater by
means of holographic interferometry
2) Pilot plant
To study the dilution models it has been designed and installed a 50 m3 pilot plant consisting of a
GRP tank with a series of conductivity sensors at different heights and lengths, in order to
customize the way of dilution. The pilot plant results are compared with those obtained by means of
mathematical software used to simulate this dilution.
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3) Real plants
rd
This is the 3 part of the study but it has not been developed until this moment. It will be a later
study.
3. Results
The research results have been quite interesting. Logically there are lines of research that have led
to disappointing or poor results, but this the risk of every investigation. Overall conclusions have
been drawn quite interesting and new lines of possible research have been opened. The following
are the most important results of the project for each of the subprojects. Logically, it is also difficult
to express in a few pages the results of more than three years of research, but we have tried to
summarize these results.
3.2. Subproject 1. Research about a novel technology for the recovery of divalent salts
from brine. Characterization and possible uses for brines and byproducts.
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• The University Complutense of Madrid focused the studies on the
feasibility of the process of brine concentration for arsenic removal
process.
• Study of the possibilities of water ethanol separation by pervaporation
process (separation membrane in vapour phase), conducted by the
University of Alcala de Henares
• Studies on the application of technologies to solve the problems caused by
discharges from plants that remove arsenic.
3.3. Subproject 2. Study of technical and economic feasibility of the application of brines
from desalination plants for different uses (frost control, industrial applications, production
of brine and salts, etc…). Brine Recovery.
During 2007 a bibliography study of all the possible uses of brines with the objective of designing
some experiences or recovery processes applied or used was completed. In 2008 a new study
began, in this line of research by the University of Alicante on the use of micro algae for
use/treatment of brines.
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1. Species selection.
One species was found with the best results in nitrate removal (46.84%) and the amount of
biomass obtained was quite important. It was the largest in size species studied, and although
there are some problems of sedimentation it has many industrial applications and has been studied
extensively.
In the experiments the main determinants of the mass production of micro algae, were also taken
into account they are: lighting, dissolved CO2 concentration and pH, agitation and concentration of
nitrogen and phosphorus. A summary of the main results is shown in Table 1.
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Table 1. Summary of some results.
Maximum Nitrate
DCM*
microalgae eliminated. % Nitrates
Species Operation
(cells/ml) concentratio eliminated
n (g/l) (mg/l)
Species 1
Continuous 720000 0,058 28,06 8%
Species II
Discontinuos 426000 0,085 41,53 12%
Species II
Continuous 506000 0,101 49,32 14%
Finally some experiences were done to determine the sedimentation rate of these micro algae in
order to choose the best technology available for the separation of micro algae from the treated
effluent.
Apart from the laboratory experiences, the most interesting research was done with the pilot plants.
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This pilot plant (Fig. 4) has an evaporation capacity of 7 l/h. It works in a continuous mode, and
vacuum conditions, so that the evaporation temperature is in the range of 45-55 º C. Working with
the heat pump principle, with this team the recovery is possible and reuse of distillate, which
conductivity is less than 70 µS/cm. The system is more energy efficient than conventional
evaporation-crystallization (pilot plant II) because it uses the heat that transfers the vapor to
condense to the evaporation process. It is a process used commercially for small plants where the
energy cost is not the fundamental variable. The energy consumption was very high, about 0.9
kWh/kg, with an estimated final cost of 0.095 € / kg brine evaporated. The salt production in the
early stages is about 10 g/l brine evaporated.
This pilot (Fig. 5) is an evaporation-crystallization plant with simple effect and continuous feeding.
Control of this plant is done by the feed flow and the pressure in the evaporator that are a function
of temperature in the evaporator, and therefore the heat flow provided by the exchanger. The plant
capacity is 100 l/h, although experiments have worked with a flow rate of approximately 70 l/h. The
flash type evaporator, operated under vacuum conditions, allows evaporation in a temperature
range of 40-60 ºC. The composition of brine feed was quite variable, up 7% compared to the
conductivity and 40% over the calcium content, because the Cuevas desalination plant that is fed
by different wells with different types of water.
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Fig. 5. Evaporation Pilot plant II
The problem with this plant is that, due to its large size, it took a rather long time to come to steady
state. Thus, the conductivity in the crystallizer increased during the experiment closer to an
asymptotic value about 188 µS/cm, value that reaches from 12 m3 of brine evaporated, which
corresponds to about 180 hours of continuous operation. The temperature crystallizer is about 5°C
below the evaporator, which favours the precipitation of salts. The conductivity in the evaporator
was slightly higher (2-5 µS/cm) than the crystallizer, which may reflect the effect of removing salts
in solution to be precipitated.
We found a linear relationship between conductivity and density of the concentrated solution. The
salt that was precipitated mainly along the experiments was CaSO4 x H2O (x = ½ or 2), due to the
low solubility product of this salt as well as the brine composition. It did not reach saturation of NaCl
or at least this salt did not become the majority in any of the samples tested, although there was a
small percentage of NaCl in precipitated salts (about 2-4% w) that was increased throughout the
experiment. This may be due to increased concentration of sodium chloride in the solution bathing
salts.
The prismatic crystals are composed of CaSO4. Fig. 6 shows the scanning electron microscope
images of different salt samples analyzed. The cost to evaporate the brine in the evaporator with
steam boiler fuelled by propane is approximately 0.099 €/kg of brine evaporated.
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Figure 6. Enlarged photos of the different types of structures found in different samples of salts. A:
Agglomeration areas S2. B: Salt S3.C spherical shape: prism Agglomeration salts 'dissolved' by the
surface in S4. D: Prism in S2.
3.5. Subproject 4. Development of deep well injection systems for brines with study of
environmental implications
• Installing an EDR pilot plant in Abrera DWTP to evaluate the performance of the
installation, production and quality of treated water and brine.
• Making two hydro geological studies to assess feasibility of the injection of brine.
• Conducting a study analyzing data and drawing conclusions from the Water
Treatment Group of the Polytechnic University of Catalunya
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As mentioned, with the obtained results, it appeared that it was not a very adequate solution the
brine injection in the deep aquifer in this case. Therefore, the conclusion was that it had no sense
to continuing this research, at least in the case of Abrera, although the pilot plant tests were
continued as well as the results from the industrial plant operation. For this reason, it was decided
to refocus the study since 2008 to the purpose of carrying out the study of the feasibility of applying
deep injection techniques in Spain.
In order to evaluate the management of deep well injection of brines from desalination plants it was
studied the weaknesses of the deep injection (pollution of water and seal the store). In order to
avoid these weaknesses the requirements for the selection of potential underground sites of
rejection were studied in detail:
Moreover cited operational requirements set by the program UIC (Underground injection control)
from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S.A.). Finally, a SWOT analysis
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) was completed, about the situation of Spain in
response to the possible brine injection and potential sites for this application in Spain were
studied, having based their choice on criteria established in the research and in previous studies
carried out underground for other purposes, such as CO2 storage.
Finally, as a consequence of the works, a Best practices Manual was done, for the deep well
injection of brines.
The water authorities and water managers are challenged to find a balance between appropriate
treatment technologies, disposal practices for safe waste generated, the safety of workers and
costs, while ensuring compliance with drinking water regulations for maximum public health
protection. These challenges are causing them to consider the deep well injection of brine and
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other wastes sometimes as the only possible disposal option for the residues obtained from potable
water.
The deep well injection of the concentrate by-product from drinking water treatment is currently the
most viable option for the management of desalination concentrates inland. In the USA this
practice takes place in more than 100 infrastructures. The various legal aspects that may affect the
deep injection of brines and concentrates in Spain are contained in various rules and laws,
because there are no specific regulations for these actions.
During 2008 and 2009 the installation of pilot plant facilities at Desalination plant of Cuevas de
Almanzora were completed, where the first tests about dilution were performed. These jobs have
been outsourced to the University Institute of Water and Environmental Sciences at the University
of Alicante.
Some tests (Fig. 7) were carried out on laboratory scale to set some parameters before performing
the test at a pilot scale in the tank. Test tank dimensions were 18x31x15 cm3 methacrylate.
Parallel development of a pilot scale plant was carried out located in Cuevas de Almanzora. Below
are some pictures of the final state of the plant, auxiliary tank and control panel (Fig.8).
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Fig.8. Pilot plant details at Cuevas de Almanzora desalination plant
The pilot plant consists on the dilution tank (50 m3, rectangular), brine feed tank with agitation,
discharge pump and flow control system, diffuser nozzle system, a set of 23 conductivity probes,
data logging, electromagnetic flow meters and control panel. The tank was painted white for better
contrasts of colour, and painted with a 0.5 m scale, to provide a reference chart. The calibration
and validation of equipment for measuring the conductivity, flow meters and data recording were
also carried out. The first experiment with dye to determine a priori the best location of conductivity
probes was conducted, using a synthetic solution using sodium chloride and methylene blue,
simulating the increase in conductivity that it could be expected in brine discharge compared to the
marine environment, using a flow of 128 l/h. The results are shown in Fig.9.
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3.6.1.1. Holographic Interferometry Studies
To study the dilution of brine in seawater a technique using a holographic interferometry technique
was used. It is an optical technique that combines holography and interferometry, allowing an
observation the changes of optical path as interference fringes.
This optical path is the product of the refractive index by the distance travelled by a laser beam.
Therefore, if you use a physically stable and transparent container, you can display the refractive
index changes that are taking place in a transparent medium in form of interference fringes. Since
the refractive index is directly related to the concentration of the solution, it is possible to determine
concentration profiles in mass transfer processes (osmosis, ultrafiltration, diffusion, etc.). The
experimental device consists of assembling a holographic interferometry module where the
process occurs under study (diffusion, dilution, dispersion). (Fig.10)
Using the described procedure the diffusion coefficient of brine in seawater can be obtained. Prior
to that, there have been experiments using sodium chloride at different concentrations, as is the
majority salt in seawater. The value of the NaCl diffusion coefficient obtained in the experience was
-5 2 -5 2
1.52 • 10 cm /s. If you compare this value with literature data (1.53 • 10 cm /s) it has an error of
0.7%, which is considered acceptable.
After obtaining the diffusion coefficient of sodium chloride, the next objective was the calculation of
diffusion coefficient between seawater and brine undiluted, obtaining a value of the diffusion
-5 2
coefficient of 1.27 • 10 cm /s. This value may be used in the subsequent analysis of the discharge
of an emissary from a desalination plant. Fig. 11 shows some of the interferograms obtained:
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t = 30 min. t = 40 min. t = 50 min. t = 60 min.
An important step in this research is to design a module that plays the best possible behaviour of
the phenomenon being studied; in this case, the discharge of brine from desalination plants to the
sea.
As a prelude to the design of the module, various tests to determine the module dimensions have
been conducted. The experiment was to introduce a stream of brine, stained with a dye, at different
speeds in a bath containing seawater. This is the extent of the plume of brine and dispersal in the
seawater.
Finally there have been integrated the results of some interferograms with different times and using
the mathematical software MATLAB program; a program that simulates what happens in the
module has also been developed. To do this, from the data obtained we have started by measuring
the interference fringes of different experiments and has been interpolated information module
areas where no data are available. In Fig. 12 the integration of single interferograms in one
combined representation is shown.
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3.6.2. Key findings
• The mathematical models used in Spain for the simulation of the dilution of brine
discharges are normally from other different applications (not specific) and they
have not considered all possible effects (such as direct osmosis) in the blending of
brine in the sea. This means that disposal facilities are being designed with
inaccurate information
• Laboratory results prove the above statement as it requires a more rigorous
analysis of these models through a pilot system with enough size to properly
simulate the process.
Regarding the studies with holographic interferometry, basically at this stage the devices and
technology have been optimized, and numerous tests to determine the diffusion coefficients of
brine blending with seawater have been conducted. Finally, it has to be found the mathematical
model that adequately could simulate discharges of brine into the sea. This works are going
continued to use the current pilot facilities.
These new research lines will be included in one or more new projects as well as continuation of
some of the main lines which should be further investigated.
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5. Conclusions
The main conclusions obtained during this experience are indicated next.
• Brine discharges in desalination and mainly in inland installations still remains being a
problem, with not many feasible alternatives
• Increasing the R&D efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the desalination
technologies is needed
• Some solutions adopted for management of brines as ZLD by evaporation require further
development in order to reduce energy consumption
• micro algae production for elimination of water pollutants or nutrients (even in brines)
seems a very interesting way of future treatments, taking in account the possible further
use of micro algae biomass for energy production or other applications.
• Deep well injection seems the only economically feasible way to solve brine discharges in
many plants and it must be considered studying all the environmental implications
• The mathematical simulation of the dilution process of brine in seawater requires more
research to represent more accurately the real phenomenon
• As a consequence of R&D project presented, some important objectives have been
achieved as the increasing in knowledge on the state of the art of brine management in
inland areas, the developing of best practices manual for the injection of brines in deep
aquifers and training of the researchers in this important area of knowledge.
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134
11.1.2. M ICROALGAE PRODUCTION FOR NUTRIENT REMOVAL IN DESALINATION BRINES
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Microalgae production for nutrient removal in desalination brines
ABSTRACT
This paper will show the results of a research project about nutrient removal from brines by means
of microalgae. This work was a part of a much more ambitious project that searches for possible
solutions for management of brines. The objectives of the present research about microalgae were:
selection of species for nitrate removal in desalination brines; optimization of control parameters;
and determination of possible commercial use. None of the most common species of algae used
for industrial culture could be adapted to brine conditions. Spontaneous colonisation of brine by
species occurring in the surroundings of the desalination plant provided strains that were finally
used in the experiments here presented. In laboratory conditions, the best results were obtained for
Tetraselmis seucica illuminated with fluorescent tubes with light period 16–18 h and constant
temperature of 22 ºC. In the outdoor pilot plant Oocystis sp was found the most efficient in nitrate
removal (45%) and the most productive in terms of biomass per volume.
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Introduction
One of the most important issues in desalination projects is the environmental impact and
particularly brine management and discharge.
In the case of brackish water plants, mainly installed inland, brine discharge is an important
problem without a clear solution. Brine disposal is often limited by nutrient concentration (basically
nitrogen and phosphorus). Discharge in vulnerable areas due to eutrophication is limited and
regulated in many countries. This is a potential problem in tertiary wastewater treatment plants and
brackish water desalination plants, where it is easy to find brines with a high concentration of
nitrogen and sometimes phosphorus.
At the same time, there is a current trend about sustainable production of renewable energy which
is developing a second generation of biofuels produced from non-food sources such as microalgae,
which potentially offers great long term opportunities. Other potential applications and products
from microalgae are biological capture of CO2, wastewater treatment, human health products, food
additives, and aquaculture.
Joining these ideas together the opportunity arose to research this field. At present there is a lack
of literature references about cultivation of microalgae in brines (or high salinity water), although
there are many research studies about microalgae cultivation in other media (both in sea water and
fresh water) and the applications.
The company Sadyt, together with the companies Sacyr, Scrinser and Ecoagua, agreed to develop
a Research and Development program under the name ‘Research project for the development of
innovative solutions in the management of desalination brines’.
This project, designed for a period of three years, received public funds (around 2.5 million Euros)
from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and the Ministry of Environment.
Universities and public research centres that have participated are:
The project aimed at searching for technical and economical alternatives for the management of
desalination brines by means of innovative solutions. It also included the design and
implementation of pilot plants and demonstration systems. These general objectives were
developed through five different research lines (Zarzo and Campos, 2011), including the study of
technical and economic feasibility of the application of brines and by-products from desalination
plants, where this project is framed. The next stage of the works will be focused on the
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development of an industrial scale plant and the technology for efficient separation of microalgae
from water.
Experimental methods
Objectives
The overall objectives of the project were to determine the feasibility of the application of brine from
desalination plants for different uses (frost control, industrial applications, production of brine and
salts, etc.) and to its recuperation.
Following these studies and waiting for results from other research lines, this could open up market
opportunities. One of the lines of work was the use of cultivation of microalgae and for its ability to
reduce nutrients in brines.
Recently, apart from the conventional techniques for removing nitrogen and phosphorus from
water, some other techniques are focused on encouraging natural processes in aquatic plants,
algae and microalgae. These processes are generically referred to as phytoremediation (Olguin,
2004).
There are precedents from the 60s (Oswald and Gotaas, 1957; Oswald, 1963) using microalgae in
wastewater treatment, but there are no references to its use in brines.
There are several drawbacks to the widespread deployment of these algae systems such as the
need for a thorough understanding of the microalgae physiology and biochemistry, characteristics
of the culture medium, verification of laboratory results to large area plants and to demonstrate its
operational capacity and competition with other more conventional techniques with lower costs.
Applied process
This project was developed using brine from the brackish water reverse osmosis plant installed at
3
the University of Alicante, Spain. This plant treats 450 m /day of water from an aquifer with 5710
-1 3
µS/cm conductivity, producing 100 m /day of brine with high Nitrate concentration, as it is shown
in Table 1.
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Table 1. Water quality
Ammoniacal 0 <0,08 7
Nitrogen
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(v) development of a semi-industrial pilot plant (cultivation in batch/semi-continuous
outdoor and continuous experiments indoor)
(vi) studies about microalgae separation
(vii) studies about microalgae applications
Species selection
The species selection process consisted of series of experiments of isolation and adaptation of
natural occurring species to the brine from the brackish water desalination plant at the University of
Alicante. To start the spontaneous colonization of the most abundant algae, brine from the plant
enriched with nutrient medium was left outside the desalination plant in direct sunlight for a duration
of two weeks. In parallel water samples taken from the effluent at the discharge point were filtered
to separate algae from zooplankton and other organisms. Throughout the course of the project, the
following species were isolated from the brine: Scenedesmus quadricauda, Chlorella sorokiniana,
Chlorella sp., Chlorella sp.1, Nitzschia palea, Anabaena sp., Oocystis sp. Tetraselmis suecica was
isolated from the discharge point. The marine species Nannochloropsis salina and Mychonastes
homosphaera isolated from a pond near the plant performed very well in brine. The identification of
species was performed by DNA analysis. Other more commonly used species were also checked
but they did not survive in the brine environment
Laboratory optimization
Different tests were carried out in a growth chamber with constant internal temperature at 22uC
and controlled lighting with a period of 16:8 h.
Experiment 1: optimum medium for microalgae growing. Test tubes with brine and artificial
freshwater with additional phosphate plus a combination of metals and vitamins up to the
concentration of the standard media F2 (Guillard and Ryther, 1962) were used as culture media to
check for optimum growth of the microalgae.
Experiment 3: Changing the scale at 250 mL with the best medium as results of
experiments 1 and 2.
The most relevant results of this stage are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and Table 2.
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Nannochloropsis (in tubes)
Mychonastes (Phosporus test)
2,00E+07
12000000
1,80E+07
10000000
1,60E+07
Células/m
B
l 8000000
1,40E+07
BP
1,20E+07 B
6000000 BPM
B + 1P
1,00E+07
4000000 B + 2P BPV
8,00E+06 B + 3P BPMV
2000000
6,00E+06
CELLS/ML
4,00E+06 0
2,00E+06 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
0,00E+00 DAY
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Dia
Figure 2. Example of results for microalgae (Mychonastes) growing in tubes in different conditions
(B=brine (<0,1 mg/l P), B +1P= B + 1 mg/l Phosporus, B+2P= B + 2 mg/l P, B+3P = B + 3 mg/l P)
141
Main conclusions of the experiments were:
(i) experiment 1: water must carry phosphorus, trace elements and vitamins up to
the level of standard media (F2 Ryther and Guillard was the one selected)
(ii) experiment 2: brine was a more favourable media than artificial freshwater for
the two species used, especially for N. salina which being a marine species
grows best in the brine. M. homosphaera also tolerated brine well growing more
than in artificial freshwater, although it is a freshwater species. In tested
-1
phosphorus concentrations (1, 2 and 3 mg P L ) the increase in this nutrient
had no effect on algal growth. Therefore the decision was made to use the
-1
lowest concentration (1 mg P L ) in subsequent laboratory scale experiments.
(iii) experiment 3: scale change produced an increase in biomass production
doubled over the experiment 1 in test tubes. 2. It achieved a nitrate removal up
to 35%.
The objective of this stage (experiments 4 and 5 in 2 L flask) was to improve the productivity of
microalgae by aeration and to prepare a stable mounting for higher inoculum which could be
adapted to the pilot plant stage abroad. It is hypothesized that the increase in productivity would
lead to a depletion of nutrients in the culture medium. The specific objectives of the experiment
were:
(i) aeration and scale change meant improvements for M. homosphaera that doubled
biomass production compared to flasks without aeration in previous experiments.
Consequently, a reduction of nitrates up to 45% was detected
(ii) for N. salina a biomass increase was not noticeable and therefore the elimination of
nitrates was not significant either. The authors assume that the maximum cell density
for this brine was reached
(iii) with Pavlova lutheri it was observed that a significant reduction of nitrates was not
achieved (22-86%) although the amount of biomass produced was higher
(iv) Tetraselmis suecica was the species producing the best results in nitrate removal (46-
84%) and the amount of biomass produced was very important. It is the largest species
and although there are some problems of sedimentation it has many industrial
applications and it has been studied extensively.
142
Nitrate removal
375
350
325
300
Nannochloropsis
275 Mychonastes
250 Pavlova lutheri
200
175
150
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Nitrates (mg/l)
Day
Following on the experimental results established in the laboratory stages the following conditions
were selected:
(i) monospecific cultures of Tetraselmis suecica and Pavlova lutheri because they
provided good results in nitrate reduction, biomass production and also they are used
in animal nutrition (fish farming). With the species Mychonastes halosphaera good
results were obtained in terms of nitrate removal, but there is no known application,
reason why it was discarded at this stage of the project
(ii) open systems: the container for the culture is open, cheaper and easier to operate than
closed ones. It consists on a shallow horizontal oval shaped pond. The ponds for these
applications are usually oval. From a certain size, it requires any form of agitation for
cell suspension, because all cells have to be exposed to light for as long as possible
and thus promoting absorption of nutrients by algae. At this stage extrapolation from
laboratory to medium volume reactors (10 L) was attempted and to carry out the
experiments outside of the laboratory. The aim was to obtain data on growth of the
species Pavlova lutheri and Tetraselmis suecica for a further design of a pilot plant for
greater volume. The following parameters were controlled: pH, temperature range,
lightning, cell density and growing rate. Results for Pavlova lutheri are shown in Table
3.
143
Table 3. Experiment data outdoor for Pavlova lutheri.
Pavlova
Cell density Growing rate Lightning T
-1
Time 2
pH
(cells/mL) (day ) (W/m ) (ºC)
Day
0 275.000 0 16:00
Max cell
density
(cells/mL) 16.080.000
The results of this first experiment outdoor were very favourable in the case of T. suecica. It was
close to the maximum level reported in the literature for the use of more conventional culture
media. It is necessary to keep in mind that there are no references to date using brine as media.
From the results obtained and their adaptation to brine Tetraselmis suecica was selected for the
pilot plant study.
144
Development of semi-industrial pilot plant
In previous phases of the project it was confirmed the ability of microalgae for nutrient reduction,
such as nitrate reductions up to 46% with the species Tetraselmis suecica. Given this evidence, the
authors intend to continue improving crop conditions to maintain a cell density as high as possible
and to eliminate as much as of the nutrient concentration as possible. In order to perform design
checks and calculations of future industrial plants, the setup was built in the workshop of the
University of Alicante, including a rectangular raceway type open pond in PVC.
According to the literature (Cobelas and Gallardo, 1989) the main determinant parameters of the
mass production of microalgae are: residence time, lighting, nitrogen and phosphorus
concentration, mixing. dissolved oxygen, carbon and pH and biotic interactions.
In order to study these factors (for the future design of an industrial plant) in the raceway pond built
(pilot plant) three tests were performed:
There were problems related to the outdoor exposition, i.e. increasing of pH (due to CO2
consumption by microalgae) and high evaporation rate (at 35ºC in summer 3 L/day were lost). For
this reason, the decision was made to move the pilot plant into the laboratory to better control of
the environment conditions.
The effect of the artificial light over the experiment was also studied. Light tubes were added and
growth was measured at three different light intensities: 20, 30 and 70 W m22 which in any case
are lower than the 150 average value that was achieved outside in the summer months. However,
-2
with 70 W m it reaches a similar growth rate, so this was used for subsequent experiments. There
were also two small maintained tanks outside in order to compare the results for indoor–outdoor
(results in Figs. 4 and 5).
145
Growing trenes in indoor experiments
Cell Growing trends
density
7,00E+005
Cell Tetraselmis sp
density
6,00E+005
1,40E+006
5,00E+005
1,20E+006
4,00E+005
Tetraselmis
Oocystis
3,00E+005
1,00E+006
Indoor experiment
2,00E+005
8,00E+005
1,00E+005 Oudoor experiment
6,00E+005
0,00E+000
Indoor experiment trend
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Day
4,00E+005
y = 12420e 0,2913x
2,00E+005
R 2 = 0,8939
0,00E+000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Day
It is very difficult to find references about experiences of nutrient removal with microalgae in
continuous processes. There are some previous studies on nutrient removal processes in
wastewater (not in brine) as a secondary or tertiary treatment (Sanchez et al., 2008). In these
cases the experiments were carried out in a small scale laboratory and worked in batches or in
small pilot plants to simulate performance gaps. Although it is not usual, there are some papers on
continuous production of algae which have been used as a reference for some of the design
parameters (Camacho et al., 1989).
The experiment 9 was the development of a two-stage continuous culture lasting four days long
(more than calculated HRT, retention time). The results obtained with the continuous culture of the
species Oocystis sp is shown in Fig. 6.
146
Soluble Phoshorus vs time (Oocystis)
Soluble P
Cell
(ppm)
Continuous experiments indoor
density
1,200
Experiment 1
1,000 8,00E+005
Experiment 2
0,800 7,00E+005 Experiment outdoor
Experiment indoor
0,400 5,00E+005
0,200 4,00E+005
0,000
3,00E+005
0 1 2 3 4 5
Dia
2,00E+005
1,00E+005
0,00E+000
0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88
Time (hours)
Average Average
Specific Specific
Cell Algae Daily
Flow Productivity Productivity
Species density Biomass production
(L/day) (Tons/hec-
(g/day) 2
(g/m day) tare- year)
(cells/mL) (g/L)
Regarding phosphorus, as it is necessary for algae growth, it is required to add a small amount of
as it was shown in previous results. Figure 7 shows phosphorus removal with time.
147
Cell Experiments brine + wastewater
density
1800000
1600000
1400000
Oocystis BPM
1200000
Oocystis B+W
1000000 Tetraselmis BPM
800000
Soluble phosphorus reduction was over 90% Tetraselmis
on theB+Wthird day, a consistent result with reference
Botriococcus BPM
-1
600000
sources (Hernandez et al., 1997). In the continuous
Botriococcus B+W process the concentration of 1 mg L of
400000
200000 phosphorus was kept with regular additions according to the depletion rate after daily monitoring. In
0
0 2 these
4 conditions,
6 8 it is10 necessary
12 14 to consider
16 a possible precipitation of calcium phosphate
Dia
(especially when pH rises above 8-5) which could reduce the amount of soluble phosphorus. Until
this moment, the source of phosphorus added to the brine was NaHPO4, from a laboratory
-1
supplier. Providing 1 mg L of phosphorus from this chemical is not expensive when we are
working with small volumes, but it could be a considerable cost when working with large volumes.
In a project meeting the possibility of supplying phosphorus from a wastewater was discussed,
-1
which is diluted with brine to meet the equivalent dose of 1 mg L of soluble P. To test whether the
species growing in the brine could admit this source of P, an experiment with brine was conducted
using as a P source the permeate of an MBR (membrane biological reactor) wastewater treatment
pilot plant located in the WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) Rincon de Leon, at Alicante, Spain,
with the following characteristics (Table 5).
Phosphorus
17,52 mg/L
Total
Figure 8. Results of experiments with brine and wastewater permeate from MBR plant (BPM=
previous Brine+P+metal and B+W= brine + wastewater)
148
According to studies by Grobbelaar and Moster (1987) nitrogen is 11% of algae biomass. Most
authors agree on this point and put the value of nitrogen between these values (8–12% of
biomass). Those studies have shown that microalgae can use any source of nitrogen although it
prefers ammonia. With data from all experiments it can be estimated that the removal of nitrate is
proportional to the amount of algae present in the culture ranging around 50% of algae biomass
present and if there is no limitation by other factors such as phosphorus or lightning. The
experiments which got better results for nitrate removal were those with the species Oocystis sp
6 -1
outdoors with a reduction of up to 42% supplying a density of 5x06x10 cells mL . Keeping the cell
concentration using a dilution rate of 0-4 it would reduce nitrates to a level below the limit. To
-1
remove them completely it would require the twice the amount of cells, around 1 g L . These
densities can only be achieved in closed systems with temperature control and injection of CO2
(Takeuchi et al., 1992). Another option could be to do it in two stages, where effluent is recirculated
to the culture for a second time. Table 6 shows the results in pilot plant.
Nitrates
Max cell Max
removal % Nitrate
Species Experiment operation density microalgae
removal
(cells/ml) conc. (g/l)
(mg/l)
Outdoor
Oocystis Batch 820.000 0,066 31,96 10%
September
Indoor
Oocystis Continuous 720.000 0,058 28,06 8%
October
Indoor
Tetraselmis Batch 426.000 0,085 41,53 12%
November
Indoor
Tetraselmis Continuous 506.000 0,101 49,32 14%
November
Table 7 shows the comparison between experiment results and references. No productivity data
are specified for other seasons although declines in production by a strong lightning dependence is
reported. Therefore our results can be considered comparable to those of other authors because
-2
we worked indoors with artificial light of low intensity (70 W m ).
149
Table 7. Comparison of results with other published works (species Tetraselmis)
Dilution Rate
0,3-0,5 0,41-0,55 0,291
-1
(day )
Productivity / surface
15-20 (summer) 5,6-38 4,18
2
(g/m day)
To complete the treatment process and reuse nutrients and biomass it is necessary to separate the
microalgae suspension from the effluent. The main methods proposed to date are: sedimentation,
filtration, flocculation and centrifugation. Normally, biomass is obtained in water with concentrations
-1
between 0.02–0.4 g L (dry weight). The best technology would depend mainly on the type of
microalgae and the further use of this biomass. In this case the main objective was the removal of
nutrients in brines, so the authors should opt for separation processes with low cost. Following
these criteria there were two main options; sedimentation and filtration. Regarding sedimentation,
tests were carried out with Imhoff cones. The microalgae Oocystis shown a greater tendency to
sedimentation than Tetraselmis, although this process remains slow, so a next stage of the
research will be to improve the speed and efficiency of sedimentation using lamella clarifiers.
For some types of algae and to take advantage of biomass the cross-flow filtration is often used.
There are also developments of some innovative patents such as belt filters after flocculation. The
other more viable and practical option is the use of granular bed filters making possible to get a
150
clean effluent, but it will require a backwash and subsequent centrifugation (this has been tested in
the laboratory).
Some experiments were performed with filtration for Oocystis species which it was considerably
promising. With this type of filtering, separation of microalgae from the effluent is achieved. Later,
with the backwash, microalgae could be withdrawn and retained in the sand bed. Although the
results were promising, it is still necessary to work in the recovery system of microalgae.
Regarding the biomass applications there are several possibilities; to consider the production of
biomass as sewage sludge and consider the same applications you may have (disposal in landfills,
composting or burning for producing energy). In previous sections it has been estimated maximum
biomass values of about 15 tons/ (hectare x year) There are some experiences in the use of algae
biomass as fertilizer and animal feed. But the easiest option (not requiring specific regulations) is
the use of biomass for energy production. The energy content depends on the composition of algae
(proteins, fats, carbohydrates). At higher levels of fat content, higher energy production. For
-1
example Tetraselmis Suecica usually presents energy values of 24.2 kJ g and its average
composition is often 6% fat, 52% protein and 15% carbohydrate.
Conclusions
1. The use of micro algae for the removal nutrients (N and P), opens up a good possibility
of treatment for some brines. The results obtained with reductions over 45% for nitrates are very
encouraging. However, further work must be done on the research about the applications of this
biomass once used in the removal of nutrients.
2. Biomass production estimated about 15 T per hectare and year is encouraging to go for
future treatments, taking into account the possible further use of micro algae biomass for energy
production and other applications such as human food supplements and fish and shellfish
aquaculture.
3. As a consequence of the R&D project presented, some important objectives have been
achieved, the increase in knowledge on the state of the art brine management in inland areas and
researcher training in this important area of knowledge.
151
References
Camacho, F., Mohna, E., Martinez, Ma. E., Sanchez, S. and Garcia, F. 1990. Continuous culture of
the marine microalgae Tetraselmis sp-productivity analysis, Aquaculture, 90, 75–84.
Cobelas, M. and Gallardo, T. 1989. Una revisión sobre la Biotecnología de las Algas (‘A review
about algae biotechnology’). Editorial Universidad Complutense, Spain.
Grobbelaar, J. U. and Mostert, E., 1987. The influence of nitrogen and phosphorus on algal growth
and quality in outdoor mass algal cultures, Biomass, 13, (4), 219–233.
Hernandez, P., Ambrose, R., Prats, D., Ferrandis, E. and Asensi, J. C. 1997. Modeling
eutrophication kinetic en reservoir Microcosms, Water Res., 31, 2511–2519.
Laws, E. A. and Berning, J. L. 1991. A study of the energetics and economics of microalgal mass-
culture with the merine chlorophyte tetraselmis suecica-implications for use of power-plant stack,
Biothechnol. Bioeng., 37, 936–947.
Olguin, J. E. 2004. Cleaner production and environmentally sound biotechnology for the prevention
of upstream nutrient pollution in the Mexican coast of the Gulf of México, Ocean Coastal Manag.,
47, (11–12), 641–670.
Oswald, W. J. 1963. High rate pond in waste disposal, Developm. Industr. Mocrobiol., 4, 112–119.
Oswald, W. J. and Gotaas, H. B. 1957. Photosynthesis in sewage treatment, Trans. Am. Soc. Civ.
Eng., 122, 73–105.
Takeuchi, T., Utsunomiya, K., Kobayashi, K., Owada, M. and Karube, I. 1992. Carbon dioxide
fixation by a unicelluar green algal Oocystis sp., J. Biotechnol., 25, 261–267.
Zarzo, D. and Campos, E. 2011. Project for the development of innovative solutions for brines from
desalination plants, Desalination and Water Treatment, 31, 1–3, 206–217.
152
11.1.3. D ESALINATION T ECHNIQUES – A REVIEW OF THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR
DESALINATION IN AGRICULTURE
153
Desalination Techniques – A Review of the opportunities for Desalination in Agriculture
Stewart Burn, Manh Hoang, Domingo Zarzo, Frank Olewniak, Elena Campos, Brian Bolto and Olga
Barron
ABSTRACT
The adoption of desalination for agricultural purposes in countries such as Australia has been very
limited, with only a small number of cases available to demonstrate its suitability. This can be
compared to countries such as Spain where the uptake has been significant. A number of suitable
technologies such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis are available to provide desalinated
water, but not at a cost comparable to that for water commonly utilised for agricultural purposes.
The use of blended waters, where the quality of the water is tailored to the crop may go part way to
addressing this cost differential. However, if the overall efficiency of the combined production of
water and food, as well as opportunities for better soil management is considered, then
desalination’s applicability to agriculture becomes more viable. The use of state of the art
technologies for the provision of desalinated water for agriculture is most likely to be cost effective
in a tightly controlled environment, using agricultural practices with the most-effective water use
and crops with high productivity. Such conditions are often associated with greenhouses and the
production of high-value irrigated crops, where the cost of water is small compared to the
infrastructure investment.
154
1. Introduction
Population growth, food security concerns, climate change impacts on agriculture, freshwater
resource overuse and land degradation worldwide are forcing international scientific communities
to look for alternative approaches to our current resource management approach for agricultural
purposes. This includes all aspects associated with water resources and their availability to support
ever-growing demands for both agricultural and potable water demands. Desalination technologies
may provide one opportunity for generating cost-effective and potentially climate-independent
water resources of controlled quality for agriculture applications.
As shown in Fig. 1, seawater desalination is the most used solution to address water shortage
especially for potable water applications. In this respect the number of desalination plants around
the world, both planned and under construction, has increased significantly in recent years, as
shown in Fig. 2, especially in Australia where they have been targeted for providing additional
sources of potable water [25]. It is estimated that about 69% of available water resources around
the world are used for irrigation [110] and as water demands increase the number of desalination
plants for irrigation for agriculture has also increased. Consequently there is increased emphasis
on enabling cost effective desalination technologies to provide water of suitable quantity and quality
for agricultural applications.
Fig. 1. Total capacity installed in the world (IDA Desalination Yearbook 2013-2014)
155
Fig. 2. Global cumulative contracted and commissioned desalination capacity, 1965-2011 (GWI
Desaldata, 2011)
Drier countries such as Australia and Spain have a long history with desalination technologies. In
the past, the high capital and operating costs of desalination and the energy required have been
major constraints to large-scale production of freshwater from brackish waters and seawater.
However, desalinated water is becoming more competitive for urban use because desalinating
costs are declining associated with increasing demand from population growth and reduced
security of supply from surface water and usable groundwater and it is expected that these
increases in efficiency will flow through to the agricultural sector. However, in spite of these
developments, currently the cost of desalinated water is still too high for the use of this resource in
broad-scale irrigated agriculture. An exception appears to be intensive horticulture for highvalue
cash crops, such as vegetables and flowers (mainly in greenhouses) grown in coastal areas where
safe disposal of brines is easier than in inland areas [11]. For example Sundrop farms (Sundrop-
Farms, Personal communication), uses 860,000 m3 of fresh water yearly to irrigate 2000 m2 of
greenhouses. If the costs for providing desalinated water continue to reduce, its use is expected to
become more viable because desalination for agricultural purposes has a number of significant
advantages including:
156
costs have been rising in many parts of the world and costs for desalination have been declining,
consequently desalination has become more economically attractive and competitive. Lattemann et
al. [58] estimated that by 2015 the costs of freshwater treatment, wastewater reuse and
desalination are likely to be similar, at least in USA. However, currently desalinated water produced
worldwide (77.4 million m3 /day, IDA, 2012) still comprises less than 1% of total worldwide water
use, with only 2% of total desalinated water production currently used for agriculture (Fig. 3).
Figure 3: Global desalination capacities by user type (IDA Desalination Yearbook 2013-2014)
According to Desaldata [29] many countries are beginning to use desalinated water in agriculture,
albeit at varying rates. The highest proportion of desalinated water use in agriculture occurs in
Spain, where the current installed capacity is 1.4 million m3 /day and 22% is used in agriculture for
high value crops, such as vegetables, fruits including tomatoes and peppers, and vineyards for
table grape production. In Kuwait, where the current installed capacity is in excess of 1 million m3
/day, 13% is used for agriculture and in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest single producer of
desalinated water; only 0.5% of its desalination capacity is used for agricultural purposes. Other
countries which use desalinated water for food production are Italy (desalination capacity 64,700
m3 /day — 1.5% for agriculture), Bahrain (620,000 m3 /day — 0.4%), Qatar (0.1%), USA (1.3%)
and Israel. The wider application of desalination technologies for agriculture is limited by its
relatively higher cost, as well as by the need for agriculture to be close to saline and brackish
feedwater resources as well as a safe and cost effective disposal option for brines. National
assessments of the applicability of desalination technologies to support agricultural water supply
are currently under way in Chile, China and Australia [49].
The overall efficiency of the combined production of water and food, energy use as well as an
opportunity for better soil management, should be the basis for an assessment of desalination's
applicability to agriculture. Relatively high desalination costs can be offset by the adaptation of
more-efficient irrigation technologies (less water use per kg of crop production) and increases in
agricultural productivity and crop quality (greater crop production per unit of water used).
157
There are a number of benefits for desalinated water use in the agricultural sector. The most
obvious one is that the technology produces an additional water resource. However, costs are a
major limitation and less expensive options such as reverse osmosis are normally chosen,
consequently, as shown in Fig. 4 the majority of the world's desalination capacity is supplied by RO
[49].
Desalination plants used for agriculture are relatively small (apart from some multi-purpose plants
in Spain and Israel) and according to ‘economy of scale’ principles they produce water at a high
cost. For agricultural purposes, seawater desalination using RO, considered to be one of the most
efficient desalination technologies, is not normally used as the process is expensive due to high
energy demands. Brackish water desalting is typically a third of the cost of desalinating seawater;
however, inland brackish water is more often associated with groundwater, which is not an infinitive
resource (as seawater is considered) and a clear definition of a sustainable groundwater yield is
required to avoid aquifer depletion.
Inland desalination is also challenged with the required disposal of desalination by-products (brine)
with all currently available options adding a significant cost to water production. However, higher
desalinated water recovery rates available with new technologies such as membrane distillation
should lead to a reduction in disposal cost per unit of water produced. In addition, the proximity of
feedwater sources to irrigated land can significantly reduce the cost of water supply as it minimises
water distribution costs.
3. Desalination technologies
There are a significant number of technologies available for desalination of both sea and brackish
water supplies. Many of these are commercial, however; there are some that are either
approaching commercialisation or are at an advanced stage of development such as membrane
distillation; which are not assessed in this analysis. The choice of technology is influenced by the
158
source water quality, energy demand, and most importantly the value placed upon the recovered
water. For example the osmotic pressure for seawater of salinity 35,000 mg/L is 2800 kPa, versus
140 kPa for brackish water of salinity 1600 mg/L [55]. For reverse osmosis (RO) this means that
when using seawater feed a significantly greater pressure must be applied to prevent osmotic
transfer of water through the semi-permeable membrane and thus the energy requirements for the
treatment of seawater are significantly higher than for brackish water.
Whilst grid energy is the major energy source used for desalination, other alternative energy
sources exist including solar [38,97], wind or wave power [10,27,43] and heat to provide the power
necessary to drive the desalination process.
The technology for solar desalination already exists and has recently been applied for the provision
of water, energy and heat in South Australia for the production of high value crops [93], whilst a
number of photovoltaic RO demonstration plants have also been developed [78]. Wind power with
direct conversion to mechanical energy is also under study in the Netherlands [70]. Wave energy is
another possible direct mechanical energy source [102], whilst a system that employs hydrostatic
pressure has been tested [5].
Water quality is a critical factor in determining the types of technologies that are suitable for
desalination of different waters and salt concentration in particular will determine which process is
appropriate, as will fouling and scaling which is a function of the raw water composition. The main
practical difficulties with technologies such as RO are associated with membrane deterioration,
especially by biofouling and the scaling of the membranes which is more pronounced with
intermittent operation
Desalination via RO removes all the naturally occurring salts to give an un-buffered water that is
deficient in calcium and other essential minerals, so for drinking purposes these must be added
back into the water. This deficiency in divalent salts combined with the presence of CO2, causes a
low pH (around 5.5) and a negative Langelier Index (LSI), which implies a corrosive and poorly
balanced water. For agriculture this means that the SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) is not balanced,
which can cause de-structuring and waterproofing of soils due to sodium and calcium exchange.
The importance of these issues for agricultural purposes will need to be addressed, but it is
expected that buffering would address the issue. RO is also relatively inefficient as all the input
water must be chemically pre-treated and filtered even though a large proportion of the input is
returned to the ocean or source as a concentrated waste stream. An example of a typical value, is
the Southern Seawater Desalination, Binningup, RO plant in Perth, where this brine is equivalent to
55–60% of the input water stream [45]. Also one of the main issues in desalination for agriculture is
159
the toxicity of boron for different crops and the high boron transfer through RO membranes. This is
especially problematic for seawater and the reason why in many plants a second pass RO is
required.
As the number of installed plants world-wide has increased, to more than 15,000 in 125 countries
[89], there has been an overall decrease in the production cost of desalinated water obtained by
RO, as seen from a survey of 20 plants over the period 1990 to 2005 (Fig. 5). However, there has
been a recent upward trend in costs due to construction and power costs increasing. Between
1980 and 2000 the amount of energy needed for seawater desalination was halved because of
improvements in pumps and other equipment, and has been further halved with new energy
recovery systems that regain 97% of the energy used [89]. Currently the cost of producing
desalinated seawater is estimated to be as low as US$0.50/m3 for large scale seawater reverse
osmosis plants at specific locations and conditions (which may include local incentives and
subsidies), whilst at other locations the cost is closer to US$1.0/m3 [46]. In comparison Tofigh and
Najafpour [98], are predicting prices as low as US$0.35/m3 for water obtained from reverse
osmosis.
The cost to treat seawater or brackish waters to produce potable water is a function of numerous
variables which are difficult to ascertain precisely from the literature because of the confidential
nature of such costs.
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
160
3.1.1.2. Reverse Osmosis - Energy Costs
The major costs in desalination are related to energy which can represent between 30 and 50% of
the operating costs. For seawater feeds the energy requirement is high at 12 kWh/m3 if there is no
energy recovery, and 4 kWh/m3 if there is energy recovery [19]. For seawater about 0.9 to 1.4
kWh/m3 is consumed for deep sea pumping (about 6 m below sea-level), for filtration devices and
micro filtration finishers and for the disposal of the concentrate to the sea. The RO process itself,
consumes between 2.2 and 2.8 kWh/m3 , depending on the type of concentrate energy recovery
used. When energy recovery turbines (ERT) are used to recover the energy stored in the
concentrate; the RO energy is as low as 2.8 kWh/m3 of product; whilst devices like pressure
exchangers may reduce energy consumption to 2.2 kWh/m3. It should be noted that based on
thermodynamic principals the minimum separation energy for seawater (35,000 mg/L TDS, 25 °C)
is 1.09 kWh/m3. Continuing advances in membrane development mean that the energy component
for operation is continually being improved with a record low of 1.58 kWh/m3 being claimed [89].
Recent survey data for Australia shows that the average energy consumption is 3–3.7 kWh/m3 for
sea water RO, 0.7–1 kWh/m3 for brackish water and 1.2 kWh/m3 for industrial effluent [52–54].
The highly effi- cient Kwinana plant uses between 2.7 and 3.1 kWh/m3 of water depending on
temperature and membrane ageing [45].
Obviously the cost of desalinated water will depend upon the cost of energy. In Australia the cost of
electricity varies depending on location, retailer and customer. For example, energy costs a
maximum of AU$0.30 kWh in Victoria for domestic customers, but for a large customer varies from
AU$0.20 kWh for small installations to AU$0.12 kWh for large sites using in the vicinity of 150
MWh/yr (Personal Communication Yarra Valley Water). Therefore RO water using the most
efficient systems should cost between AU0.36 and AU$0.60/m3 depending on the size of the
system. (Note: at the time of submission AU$1 ≈ US$0.8.) One option to reduce energy costs is to
operate desalination plants during off-peak periods. An example of such a strategy is utilised at the
Cuevas de Almanzora RO plant in Spain. As shown in Table 1, there are 6 periods of electricity
price (P1 to P6) depending on the day, on the week or even on the month available to this plant.
The main strategy of the Cuevas de Almanzora Plant is to operate as much as possible in the P6
periods and at a minimal level in the P1 and P2 periods. Only during months of maximum water
production has there been significant consumption of electricity in region P5 as shown in Fig. 6.
The utilisation of such a practice has seen water being produced by the plant at a cost of
AU$0.308/m3 . If this water were then blended with for example groundwater, then water could
easily be produced at a cost suitable for agricultural purposes [44]. Alternatives to grid power are
being explored to reduce energy costs. A hybrid system based on gravitational and wind energy
has been proposed [39]. In this system a windmill pumps feed water to special pistons inside a
complex series of desalination columns. Calculations suggest energy usage of 2.8 kWh/m3 for
such a system. Submerging RO plants in boreholes to a depth of 500 m and pumping the product
water to the surface has also been suggested [83]. Another alternative is to use the pressure
161
contained within artesian bores as these can have a pressure of up to 1.3 MPa [81], which is
enough to overcome the osmotic pressure of many brackish waters. For example, the osmotic
pressure for water of salinity 1600 mg/L is only 0.14 MPa [55]. Therefore, it should be feasible to
run a brackish water RO plant on artesian bore water pressure. The installation would be at the
bore head and would provide suitable water for agricultural purposes provided that the pressure is
retained and there is no diminution of pressure over a long time period
Table 1: Average prices of electricity in 2011 and 2012 by tariff periods (Prices in AU$)
Figure 6: Evolution of electricity consumption by Tariff periods along 2011 and 2012 (Garcia,
Molina and Zarzo, 2011)
162
for a number of water sources aim to greatly improve flocculent size, capture more pollutants,
reduce membrane fouling, and can be easily washed from the membrane and are thus expected to
reduce treatment costs [99]. Technologies are also being developed to allow membrane surfaces
to be treated with compounds that have excellent anti-fouling properties.
As shown in Fig. 7 other costs also contribute to the total cost of desalination with RO currently
being cheaper than other common desalination techniques such as Multiple Effect Distillation
(MED) and Multistage Flash Distillation (MSD) [58,59].
0.01
0.6 0.46 0.50
0.05
0.03 0.01
0.5 0.08
0.08
Relative Operation Costs (US$)
0.07 Parts
0.4 0.27 0.08
Chemicals
0.1 Labour
0.3
0.03 Membranes
Thermal Energy
0.2 0.27
Electrical Energy
0.23 0.19
0.1 0.06
0
RO MSF MED
Figure 7: Relative operation costs in US$ of the main desalination processes (Lattemann et al.,
2010)
As detailed in Fig. 7 most cost analysis concentrates on the costs associated with the production of
water for potable applications. A major question is which particular type of desalination plant is
appropriate to produce water for use in agriculture, because there are a number of factors that can
increase the costs of desalinated water over the ex-plant cost and thus the profitability of the crops
to be grown. These include the following [69]:
• the available area to be cultivated
• the distance from that area to the desalination plant
• the existing infrastructure for water distribution.
The costs of desalination vary significantly depending on the size and type of the desalination
plant, the source and quality of the incoming feed water, pre-treatment requirements, automation
and control, the plant location, site conditions, qualified labour, energy costs and plant lifetime.
Lower salinity feed water requires less power consumption and dosing of anti-scaling chemicals.
163
Larger plant capacities reduce the unit cost of water due to economies of scale, whilst, lower
energy costs and longer plant maintenance periods also reduce the unit cost of water [114].
However, they do also require large energy plants nearby and concentrate large volumes of brine
that needs to be discharged.
The operation costs of desalination can be grouped into the following areas [100]:
• intake
• pre-treatment
• treatment (i.e., reverse osmosis)
• remineralisation
• pumping of product water
• post-treatment
• brine disposal
• energy utilisation
• civil works.
For agricultural purposes away from the coast; energy, brine disposal and civil works costs would
constitute the major costs for producing water. For coastal applications brine discharge to the
ocean would still be the preferred pathway so the operational costs for this component would be
minimal.
Table 2: Construction and operating costs for RO, MED and EDR
164
2.40 – 3734
Note. For construction costs, only direct capital costs associated with process works, including pre-
treatment and process treatment equipment, pumps, pipes and control systems have been
incorporated, and not the costs for delivery of the water to and from the plant, or associated
post treatment costs.
Fig. 9 shows investment cost of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants up until 2005. As can be
seen; after approximately 1995 the cost is clustered between 500 and 1000 US$ per m3 /day
capacity [84] with costs decreasing per unit capacity over time, which is associated with efficiencies
as plant sizes increase as seen in Fig. 10 [37,41]. These costs vary significantly to those reported
by [3], however more recent costs analysis in 2009 details costs above AU$5000 m3 /day for
Australian desalination plants as seen in Fig. 11 [51].
Figure 1. Investment cost of SWRO plant per m3/day capacity over years (Reddy & Gaffour, 2007)
165
Investment Costs of SWRO Plants
1,500
1,400
Investment (€m3/day)
1,300
1,200
1,100
1,000
900
800
700
600
500
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000
Capactity (m3/day)
Because of lower osmotic pressures and thus lower operating pressures and higher yields, the cost
of desalinating brackish water (BW) is considerably lower than the cost of seawater (SW)
desalination, making it more suitable for agriculture. Fig. 12 shows the difference of capital cost
between seawater and brackish water [107].
166
Figure 12. Relative capital costs per cubic meter for seawater and brackish water RO desalination
according to facility size. For this purpose brackish water is 1,000 mg/L TDS (WSTB, 2008)
3.1.3. Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration (NF) is considered to be a most promising technique for the production of high quality
water or a highly pre-treated feed water for RO, and many examples of its use exist, especially in
the drinking water industry [9]. Impurities that are removed include dissolved solids such as
inorganic ions, organic carbon, and regulated and unregulated organic compounds. NF
membranes are mostly used for softening and the removal of organic compounds from surface and
brackish water, and have received attention as a pre-treatment for seawater desalination. They are
usually polyamide-based, thin-film composite structures, relatively close in chemical structure to
RO membranes. Their pore size is 0.5–1.5 nm, ranging between that of Ultra Filtration (UF) and
RO membranes. The topic has been extensively covered in the literature [88].
When used for seawater desalination the application of a low pressure NF stage before RO, takes
out the multivalent ions plus some sodium chloride and organics, leaving a feed for the following
RO system that is of much lower ionic strength than the original raw water. The consequence is
that there is a smaller osmotic pressure effect and therefore lower applied pressure needs, leading
to lower energy use and higher water yield. Unfortunately, the total costs for an NF/RO system are
usually about 10% more than for an RO only system. However, there are certain situations where
the approach is justified on economic grounds, because of the organics removal by NF resulting in
a marked decrease in RO membrane fouling and a significantly enhanced membrane life.
A full scale plant in Saudi Arabia demonstrates the benefits that can be obtained via the use of NF
[35]. The plant treats 8.6 ML/day, with the NF component
167
• reducing divalent cations by 80–95%
The NF stage operated at a 65% conversion rate and the RO stage at a 56% conversion rate,
giving an overall conversion of 36%. This compared favourably with a parallel RO-only plant which
had a conversion rate of 28%, thus showing a 30% increase in overall recovery for the NF/RO
system, with an energy saving of 25–30% [94]. The application of NF in reuse of municipal
wastewater for irrigation purposes has been explored recently, with the best performing membrane
lowering the TDS from 3150 to 340 mg/L [18].
3.1.4. Electrodialysis
Electrodialysis (ED) is a membrane separation process in which ions are separated through ion-
exchange membranes under the influence of a potential gradient. In ED dissolved salts are
transferred via a direct current electric field through ion-selective membranes arranged in multi-
compartmented cell [91,95]. By applying a potential gradient across the electrodes, cationic
species (Na+, K+, NH4 +) tend to move towards the cathode passing through cation-exchange
membranes (CEM), which allows only positive species to pass through whilst rejecting the
negatively charged species. Conversely, anion species (Cl−, SO4 2−, PO4 3−) move towards the
anode passing through anionexchange membranes (AEM), which allow only negative species to
pass through and reject ions of the positive species. Through this process, cations and anions are
obtained separately in the concentrated solution. At an industrial scale, one stack of ED cells
contains up to several hundred pairs of AEM and CEM arranged alternately between electrodes
(Fig. 13).
This technology whilst suitable for wastewater in that it removes and concentrates nutrients such
as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus is also suitable for the treatment of brackish waters for salt
removal. ED with polarity reversal (EDR) is employed to remove membrane foulants which,
depending on the feed composition, are typically calcium and magnesium carbonates, sulphates or
phosphates. There is periodic reversal of the direction of current through the membrane stack to
maximise performance and reduce scaling and fouling [56,91]. EDR enables the brine stream to be
operated under conditions of super-saturation with respect to solubility-limiting species like calcium
carbonate and sulphate [71]. The process is usually limited to low salinity feeds with TDS up to
3000 mg/L, which gives high recovery (~85%), can cope with suspended solids and uses less
chemicals. It also has a lower capital cost at 637 US$/m3 /day, versus 925–2100 US$/m3 /day for
RO [40]. However, it is less flexible than RO, especially on feed water salinity.
168
Figure 3 Schematic of the ED process [from Ionics (now GE) Meller, (2000). "Electrodialysis &
Electrodialysis Reversal Technology." Ionics Incorporated, PS-4055 E-US 0201-208.]
EDR works by progressive removal of ions, typically 50% per stage. More stages are added if
further removal is required. Its main application is in brackish waters for which one or two stages
are usually sufficient to produce potable water and the energy required is relatively low, being
roughly proportional to the total dissolved solids in the feed. Because it does not involve filtration,
EDR is more tolerant of feed water quality with respect to suspended material as indicated by silt
density index and turbidity. On the down side there is no removal of pathogens, although the
capacity to operate continuously with a free chlorine residual of 0.5 mg/L partially addresses this
issue.
In a pilot-plant trial recently performed by CSIRO at the Western Treatment Plant in Victoria
[47,96], treated waste water was subjected to two-stage EDR after flocculation and media filtration.
Using source water with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 2 dS/m, product at 1 dS/m was produced
after blending with feedwater. The water produced was considered suitable for irrigation and was
produced at an operation cost of approximately 72 kWh/ML or AU$100/ML ($0.1/m3 ) with
electricity costed at $0.1/kWh. Fig. 14 shows a commercial wastewater EDR desalination plant at
La Jolla, San Diego, USA. The largest EDR facility in the world (200,000 m3 /day, Abrera,
Barcelona, Spain), treats water from the Llobregat River with a variable salinity close to 3000
μS/cm, has an energy consumption of 0.6 kWh/m3 and produces water at a cost below €0.2/m3 ).
Recent advances in EDR technology have resulted in improved performance, lowered cost and
extended life of plant and materials. Monovalent selective membranes are now available to
facilitate the preferential removal of sodium and potassium which allows a lowering of the sodium
adsorption ratio (SAR), which is important when the water is being used for irrigation. The SAR
level is an issue because if high SAR water is applied to a soil for extended periods of time, the
sodium in the water can displace the calcium and magnesium in the soil. This decreases the ability
of the soil to form stable aggregates and a loss of soil structure can occur.
169
EDR has been installed in Spain mainly for drinking water and for reducing nitrates and
trihalomethane precursors [117]. Comparisons of EDR with an RO plant of similar size show similar
costs for the two processes. In another study, the reclamation of tertiary treated wastewater has
proved to be 25% less costly with EDR than with RO [82]. Unlike RO, EDR can reliably remove
selected ions such as nitrate, and its performance is not affected by silica. Water recovery is very
high at 92% and it is not influenced by as many water constituents as RO. EDR has been applied
to the brine concentrate from RO systems, reclaiming waters of 8000 mg/L salinity to give
combined water recoveries of 96–98%. EDR for drinking water and irrigation from groundwater has
also been applied in the Canary Islands, Spain [112]. In this case one of the main reasons for its
use was the presence of silica in groundwater due to the volcanic origin of the islands, reducing the
possible feasible recovery of RO plants.
Photovoltaic ED systems have long been explored for brackish waters [2,6,87] and also for
seawater as the feed [57]. The disadvantages of ED and EDR systems include the complexity of
the system designs, the amount of scaling and fouling that occurs within the system, especially the
membranes, and a low electrode life due to corrosion stemming from the reactions at the
electrodes [48]. Specifically, the chlorine generated from the electrolysis of chloride ions in the salt
water causes corrosion, particularly corrosion of membranes, lowering their effective life.
Additionally, the gas evolution, oxygen at the anode and hydrogen at the cathode, requires the
need for degasifiers, increasing the complexity and cost of desalination plants utilising this
technology. Another additional issue is that EDR only removes charged substances and any
substance not charged will go through to the product water. This is less worrying for agriculture
purposes, but it is another issue to bear in mind.
Figure 4. Electrodialysis plant being operated at the western treatment plant in San Diego [Source:
R Taylor CSIRO]
170
3.1.5. Ion Exchange Resins
Ion exchange (IX) is used for processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of
aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid ion exchange resins. They are either cation
exchangers or anion exchangers and can be regenerated by acid or alkali respectively, or in the
case of softening resins, with brine. They are hence dependant on chemicals for their regeneration,
which generally limits their application for desalination of low salinity waters and the polishing of
industrial waters. One radical departure from the ordinary is the use of heat for regeneration, which
is achievable with weak electrolyte resins [103]. It was demonstrated on a large-scale in both
Adelaide and Perth, the latter on deep anaerobic ground waters. There are drawbacks with IX such
as degradation of the anion exchanger by oxygen in surface waters under the hot regeneration
conditions and build up of divalent metal ions on the cation exchanger, requiring a prior softening
step. These extra steps made the approach uneconomic.
IX is especially appropriate for the selective removal of organic [16] and inorganic [63] ions that
may cause membrane fouling. Scaleforming compounds are mainly calcium, barium and strontium
sulphates, calcium carbonate and silica. Iron fouling because of the negative charge on the
membrane can occur if ferric chloride has been the coagulant added in a prior step. Metal cations
can be removed by a high recovery softening with a weak acid resin of the carboxylic acid type,
typically used before RO in treating brackish waters. Iminodiacetic acid chelating resins are used
for Sr2+ and Ba2+ removal from RO concentrates ahead of further RO treatment, whilst to prevent
other scaling problems an aminophosphonic acid resin may be employed.
In continuous ion exchange (CIX) the service, regeneration and rinsing steps are carried out
simultaneously, so the product flow is not interrupted. By using a moving bed of resin it is possible
to achieve continuous operation, the main advantage of which is a high processing efficiency. Co-
current and counter-current versions are in use, but cocurrent systems are of limited value as ions
are not completely removed from the raw water and the efficiency of regeneration is poor.
Countercurrent systems though have considerable industrial significance and have found their
place, especially in industrial wastewater treatment. The main features of counter-current CIX are
that in the adsorption column the incoming raw water first contacts the most loaded resin, to ensure
the highest degree of resin loading, whilst the treated water is last in contact with freshly
regenerated resin, to give the highest possible amount of contaminant removal. Likewise, in the
regeneration column the waste stream is last in contact with fully loaded resin, leading to the
highest concentration of regenerant effluent, whilst the fully regenerated resin is last in contact with
fresh regenerant, to give the maximum level of regeneration [13]. CIX is said to be the most
efficient method of adsorption available, with resin inventories up to 25% less than fixed-bed
systems, and capable of operating on solutions containing up to 100 mg/L of total suspended
solids, thus minimising pre- filtration requirements. The approach has been extended to the
removal of insoluble particles with a continuous ionic filtration (CIF™) process, which can be
171
likened to continuous sand filtration, where particles are physically removed by a sand filter bed
[23]. In CIF, charged resins are used instead of sand and the process removes dissolved ions as
well. Continuous downward movement of resin and upflow of water in a counter-current way allows
the process to operate on a dirty water feed. It has a higher removal efficiency than conventional
systems. The system consists of a series of stages, 1) ion exchange, 2) resin washing and 3) resin
regeneration, each designed for a specific function. Each stage contains a moving packed bed of
resin, where resin and solution have intimate contact. The resin is transported between columns
using an air lift pump. Among the many applications that the technique has been used for are
desalination, membrane pre-treatment and zero liquid discharge systems. A typical flow chart for
CIF is shown in Fig. 15. The main advantages of CIF are as follows:
• low capital and operating costs
• high water recovery, up to 99% in some applications
• high quality product water
• low volume of reject wastewater
• simplicity of operation
• low energy requirement
• compact physical footprint and minimal civil works requirements.
There are a number of other commercial techniques available that may potentially be suitable for
providing desalinated water for agricultural purposes depending on the specific location and water
172
needs. These techniques include multistage flash distillation (MSF), multi effect distillation (MED),
capacitive deionization (CDI), vapour compression (VC) and solar humidification and
dehumidification (HDH). Emerging technologies which may one day be suitable for providing
desalinated water include Forward Osmosis (FO), Membrane distillation ( direct, air gap and
vacuum) (MD), pervaporation (PV), and solar desalination techniques such as multi effect
humidification and greenhouse distillation.
Of the various approaches, FO has a potential advantage with regard to waste disposal as it can
avoid reject brine, a major problem with RO. [113] FO relies on osmosis, the natural diffusion of
water through a hydrophilic semipermeable membrane from a low concentration solution to a
solution having a higher concentration of dissolved material. A neat conceptual feature appropriate
to FO in agriculture is the use of a fertilizer in the draw solution, for the immediate practical
application of the product water for irrigation [79,80]. As the product water is mixed with the draw
solution, for agricultural uses the draw material must be of benefit in the final desalted water. Initial
results suggest that 1 kg of fertilizer can extract 11–29 L of water from a seawater feed, with
potassium chloride, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate performing best of the nine compounds
tested [8,15,20–22].
5.1.Feedwater Quality
A summary of the processes for treating a range of feedwater salinities is summarised in Table 3.
For low salinity brackish waters of salinity up to 2500–3000 mg/L the processes that are in
commercial scale use and that are the most economic for that salt concentration are RO, NF, ED,
IX and HDH. RO and ED both have large-scale plants up to hundreds of ML/day capacity running.
The rest have smaller but well-tested plants operating and CDI has a 1 ML/day plant at the
commercial stage. Distillation may not be appropriate for these low salinity waters as it is energy
intensive. For more concentrated brackish waters of up to 15,000 mg/L the same processes are
usable, with the probable exclusion of CDI. In a more recent review it has been suggested that ED
has an economic advantage over RO for waters with total dissolved salts as high as 10,000 mg/L
173
[92]. IX becomes too expensive for higher salinity brackish waters above 15,000 mg/L because of
the greater cost of chemicals for regeneration of the resins as the salinity rises. It is not suitable for
highly brackish waters and seawater. Distillation for these high salinity waters is certainly an option
depending on the infrastructure costs.
Not especially
Process in use now for Potentially viable in
Salinity, mg/L suitable for that
general desalination the future
level of salinity
Brackish, up to RO, NF, ED, IX, HDH,
MD, PV, FO
2,500-3,000 CDI
Brackish, up to
RO, NF, ED, IX, HDH MD, PV, FO, CDI CDI
3,000-15,000
Brackish, above RO, NF/RO,ED, HDH,
MD, PV FO, IX, CDI
15,000 MSF, MED, VC
Sea water, RO, NF/RO, HDH, MSF,
MD, PV FO, IX, CDI
± 35,000 MED, VC
For desalination, RO is the most commonly selected method at present, as it can tackle the entire
range of saline waters up to seawater, even though it is very energy intensive. Unless the cost of
water is not an issue, inexpensive energy sources are the key to the production of agricultural
water from low quality raw waters that require desalination. There is a number of cheaper
alternative energy sources emerging compared to conventional RO, although not at a large scale.
For example, a number of solar RO demonstration plants have been built, and the main
implementation obstacles identified. The major technical issues are increased biofouling and
scaling of the membranes caused by intermittent operation due to the diurnal pattern of solar
energy. To minimise biofouling it may become necessary to choose between either batteries as an
energy storage system to allow continuous operation, or the frequent replacement of membranes.
Apart from solar and wind powered electrical generation, there is the use of pressure produced by
simple mechanical means. These also include utilising the pressure available at certain bore
heads, and pressure that can be sourced hydrostatically from high terrain or deep bore immersion.
NF alone for salinity feed waters or in conjunction with RO for high salinity waters has particular
relevance as a lower energy system. Its concentration of nutrient ions containing N, K and P, and
removal of divalent metal ions, however, means that the product water quality may need to be
adjusted before its usage for irrigation. The nutrients can be added from the concentrate as can
calcium and magnesium ions to avoid their displacement by sodium in the soil by correcting the
SAR. However, except for highly fouling waters the RO/NF combination is rarely economical
compared to RO alone.
174
For many of the processes described above, desalination needs to be followed by blending with
raw water to maintain the appropriate nutrient levels for plant and vegetable growth or the
appropriate nutrients need to be added. Post treatment to add essential nutrients can add another
AU$~0.02-0.07/m3 to the production price.
A list of energy use and costs for techniques other than distillation is given in Table 4. Only two
methods can be regarded as being fully commercial: RO and ED with large plants in operation,
whilst CDI has a smaller 1 ML/day plant at the commercial stage. The rest are still experimental,
although pilot and demonstration systems have been operated successfully. All of the processes
use moderately complex plants, with RO and ED being the most complicated, especially RO when
energy recovery is installed. The pre- and post-treatment needs are similar, but have to be styled
for the particular application. The disadvantages of ED systems include the complexity of the
system designs, the amount of scaling and fouling that occurs within the system, especially the
membranes, and a low electrode life due to corrosion arising from reactions at the electrodes. Also,
in contrast with RO, there is no removal of microbes or non-charged toxic compounds. For ED
capital costs are competitive or slightly higher than RO, except when RO needs additional
treatment prior to the membranes. Operating costs though are low, with reduced pre-
treatment/post-treatment and lower membrane replacement costs. For feed waters of b1500 mg/L
the power consumption is less for ED. Overall cost savings often outweigh those of RO. In a more
recent review it has been suggested that EDR has an economic advantage over RO for waters with
total dissolved salts as high as 10,000 mg/L [92]. Nevertheless, RO is a favoured choice because
of the limited need for chemicals. CDI offers high water recovery at lower energy cost, and is now
operating at full scale in plants of a size appropriate for small towns. It merits closer attention as
regards water for agriculture in remote communities such as mining, tourist and defence locations,
where solar power production could be feasible. Long term studies of fouling, scaling and cleaning
are yet to be done.
175
Table 4: Desalination systems possibly suitable for agricultural water production
Energy Use,
Technologies Total, US$/kL Reference
kWh/kL
Martinez et al 2009
Brackish, 0.39-1.5
Papadakis et al 2007
Brackish, 0.7-2.0 Sea, 0.55-1
Yermiyaha et al 2007
RO Sea, 1.6-12 Solar, 1.3 large plant, 2-6.5
Pacenti et al 1999
Submarine, 2-2.5 small plant
Al-Hallaj et al 2006
For emerging technologies such as MD and PV, cheap heat sources need to be available because
of the high energy need. For hot, arid climates, heat can be obtained intermittently by solar
irradiation or continuously from thermal ground waters [12,24,28,42]. Both of these techniques
have advantages over RO due to the higher recovery rates and the production of lower brine
volumes. If zero liquid waste is a desired outcome MD certainly has potential, especially if
combined with techniques such as Eutecic Freezing, which enables the selective removal of
valuable salts. Capital costs are difficult to estimate as a large-scale MD plant has yet to be built,
but capital and operating costs should be less than for RO as the process runs at very low
pressures, so thinner piping is employed and fewer problems arise with leaks, pump failures and
membrane fouling, so membranes should have longer lives. MD can only be competitive when low
cost thermal energy is available and/or the source water is too difficult for RO treatment. Vacuum
MD has an advantage over other MD modes, especially with solar energy for pumping and a cheap
176
heat resource. A comparison with RO suggests that it should compete energetically with RO, but
the flux is lower so that a higher membrane area needs to be installed.
For FO the challenge of new draw solutions needs to be centred on compounds that are of small
enough molecular size to generate high osmotic pressures, yet are easily recoverable [60–62].
Magnetic nanoparticles are one possibility for achieving simple recovery [62,73]. A better approach
would seem to be the use of a draw material that is pertinent to the future application so that it does
not have to be recovered, such as when fertilizer is used and the product water is then immediately
appropriate for irrigation.
HDH is of interest, but it is suitable only for very small drinking water units in arid, remote regions
as it needs a large area of solar collectors, which makes it expensive to set up. However, it may be
relevant for production that requires only relatively small amounts of water or where heat sources
such as geothermal or waste heat are available.
One aspect that involves a significant environmental cost for desalination is brine discharge from
desalination plants, this is especially so for inland applications where discharge to the ocean is not
possible. The salinity of the discharge depends upon the salinity of the source water with discharge
water from saltwater desalination being approximately twice as salty as the seawater, with typical
concentrate figures being given in Table 5. Discharge from desalination plants generally consists of
98.5% rejection water with a significantly higher salt level than the input water and 1.5% from filter
wash water and cleaning products [26]. In the case of seawater desalination, concentrated brines
are negatively buoyant in seawater, giving them a tendency to sink and spread along the sea
bottom, displacing normally saline water from hollows. This can have a devastating effect on sea
bottom life which impacts more broadly on the entire shallow ecosystems, however, efficient
diffuser design and placement can ensure that problems from brine discharge to the ocean are
minimal [32]
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Table 5: Typical salt concentration in RO concentrate and permeate with 45% recovery at 900psi
operating pressure (Dhawan (2007))
Seawater
Concentrate (PPM) Permeate (PPM)
(PPM)
Sodium, Na 10,967 19,888 64
Five main methods exist for the disposal of brines as detailed below. These methods are discussed
in detail by [4], however, little detail is given regarding the feasibility of the individual techniques nor
comparative costs and environmental impacts of the alternative techniques.
• Surface water/ocean discharge
• Discharge to the sewer
• Deep well injection
• Land application
• Evaporation/crystallisation.
Currently brine disposal from 28 Australian desalination plants is via discharge to ocean outfalls (6
plants), discharging to the sewer for smaller inland plants (11 plants), to evaporating basins (8
plants and ground infiltration (3 plants) [52–54]. An interesting development is in situ RO within
boreholes, with the reject salt concentrate being pumped down to a lower level that is sealed off
from the input side [30]. Fig. 16 shows some of the factors to consider when choosing brine-
disposal methods.
178
Public
perception Knowledge
Regulatory and degree of
environment sophistication
Factors
Technology Corrosion and
pipeline integrity
Soil
conditions,
agriculture, Availability
livestock of energy
Cost
Environmentally safe brine disposal depends mainly on the site of the treatment plant. For plants
situated near the sea or close to brackish environments, such as estuaries, brine disposal is
comparatively easy compared to inland desalination facilities with sea discharge invariably being
the preferred option. The most common methods of brine disposal for all RO installations in
Australia are shown in Fig. 17 [75].
As seen in Fig. 17 the most common disposal options for inland plants is discharge to the
sewerage network or evaporation in ponds, however, neither will be sustainable in the long run, as
larger quantities of brine are produced. Large evaporation ponds are expensive and do not reuse
the water and based upon costs for the building of lined earthen dam impoundments, they are
estimated to have a capital cost of AU$12,000/ML and require a land surface of 600 m2 /ML to give
a cost of AU$20/m2 [33]. Land application also has significant issues associated with the effects of
salt on plant growth and issues associated with sodicity and deep well injection whilst attractive can
be expensive.
An alternative to these techniques is direct injection of the brines back into the aquifer from which
they came. Significant studies exist for the injection of CO2 into aquifers for carbon sequestration
and although some include costs studies [64] the costs were not deemed relevant to brine injection
due to the high depth of the wells at 1500– 2000 m. Few studies exist regarding the injection of
brine following desalination and details regarding the cost of injection are limited. Nassar, El-
Damak, and Ghanem [74] for example used computational models to simulate the disposal of brine
into subsea aquifers and they developed a range of design procedures for the management of
brine injection based upon an understanding of dense brine flows in a salty aquifer, unfortunately
no cost analysis was provided. Woolley and Kalf [106] investigated the injection of bitterns into an
aquifer at a depth of approximately 300 m in the Tullakool Irrigation area west of Deniliquin, but
179
again no cost analysis was provided. Weller [105] carried out a detailed analysis of the costs for
disposing brine underground, developing algorithms for both capital and operating costs utilising
parameters with the only information available being disposal costs v's half fracture length. Some
studies have collected data on the costs associated with treated stormwater injection. For example
experience from the Salisbury, Playford and “Waterproofing the West” projects (personal
communication Peter Dillon CSIRO) indicates that drilling for aquifer recharge; including drilling
costs, casing and cementing is in the order of AU$330/m for a completed well. Equipping the well
with a pump (1–2000 m3 L/d) and rising main costs an additional AU$30,000. These costs exclude
the costs of bringing power to the site and the costs of pipelines to and from the site and can be
seen in Fig. 18. This can be compared with the costs for drilling a 200 mm diameter well 407 m
deep in the Chowilla floodplain which cost AU$660/m including drilling, casing and cementing costs
[65]. If brine injection into the aquifer is to be considered seriously then the environmental impacts
and the necessary approvals at a local level would need to be addressed.
Traditionally brine has been seen as having significant costs associated with disposal, however,
more recently brine is being seen as a potential resource that when exploited, is able to reduce the
net cost of providing fresh water [3]. As discussed in the AFFA document options for resource
recovery of brines include salt harvesting as a high valued product for agriculture at a value of
AU$25-$250/tonne, irrigation for salt tolerant crops such as Pistachios, aquaculture, solar ponds
which have the potential to produce electrical energy at an economical cost and finally controlled
drainage integrated systems that concentrate the salt via a range of agricultural steps such as
Lucerne fodder, barley fodder, dates and saltbush, saltwater fish and crustaceans, solar pond and
finally evaporated solar salts.
180
160.000
140.000
120.000
Cost $ 100.000
80.000 Fixed Costs
20.000
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Bore Depth (m)
6. Discussion
The majority of irrigated crops can tolerate water of relatively high salt content with crops such as
broccoli, tomatoes and beetroot being much more tolerant than okra and peas for example as
shown in Table 6.
181
Table 6: Water Quality required for different crops. (Shahbaz et al 2012)
−1
Vegetable Threshold level (dS m )
Pea 1.5
Okra 1.2
Tomato 2.5
Eggplant 1.1
Pepper 1.5
Carrot 1.0
Broccoli 2.8
Cauliflower 1.8
Potato 1.7
This provides opportunities to mix permeate water from desalination with water of marginal quality
to increase the volume of water available for agriculture. If blending can occur, then water
production costs would be lower when estimated per water unit supplied. This means that
desalination technologies if combined with water blending and tailored to a particular crop can be
used to provide water at a significantly reduced cost to providing desalinated water alone. Mixing
may also reduce the need for post-treatment which adds cost to produced water as permeate is
commonly required to be remineralised and ionically balanced (as permeate has reduced levels of
calcium and magnesium as well as being slightly acidic). No detailed analysis of the use of blended
water was found in the literature and an in depth analysis of the use of such waters for different
crops would be a valuable addition to the literature regarding the use of desalinated water for
agricultural purposes. It should be noted however that sometimes the blending of groundwater with
desalinated water would not be enough for meet the recommendable water quality, for example if
the resulting water does not have an equilibrated SAR. In these cases, the only way to meet the
requirements would be additional remineralisation. Other aspects such as the presence of organic
matter or other chemical compounds in water to be used for blending will also have to be
considered.
One of the identified benefits for desalinated water use in the agricultural sector is that the use of
desalinated water increases the productivity [112] and quality of some agriculture products and at
the same time leads to lower water consumption and recovery of salinity-affected soils.
As discussed by Zarzo et al. [112] irrigation of citric fruit plantations with desalinated water led to
increases in production by 10 to 50% (depending on the water quality used prior to introduction of
desalinated water), whilst water needs reduced by 20%. For a case of greenhouse production of
bananas irrigated with desalinated wastewater, fertilizers and water use were reduced by 50 and
30% respectively, leading to an increase in banana production and the earlier maturation of plants.
An increase in productivity may be related to the leaching of accumulated salts in the soil profile by
the high quality desalinated water.
182
In Spain, greenhouse products (horticultural, flowers and ornamental plants) provide greater added
value per unit of irrigated water (5.79 €/m3 on average), followed by vineyards and fruit trees (1.08
and 0.68 €/m3 respectively), and cereal grains (0.06 €/m3 ). An average of 0.41 €/m3 was
estimated for all products. These figures relate to high-value crops, for which the overall water cost
may be marginal compared to total costs. At this stage it is unlikely that the production of cotton,
rice or sugar can be effectively supported by water supplied from desalination plants.
The above leads to the conclusion that the use of desalinated water for agriculture will be viable
where there is limited access to water that is fit for purpose and it is most likely to be cost effective
in a tightly controlled environment, using agricultural practices with the mosteffective water use and
crops with high productivity. Such conditions are often associated with greenhouses and the
production of highvalue irrigated crops. This is the case in Spain; however it is also important to
mention that the high level of financial support and subsidies provided to the agricultural sector in
Spain and other EU countries make this option more viable.
A national analysis undertaken by the National Centre of Excellence for Desalination (NCED has
shown that existing farmers are unwilling to pay more than AU$1.00/m3 for water and in many
regions even this cost is considered to be unacceptably high (e.g., common water costs in
southwest Western Australia are AU$0.18–0.50/m3 ). Comparing this willingness-to-pay with the
unit cost of water production in large desalination plants means that seawater desalination is an
unlikely option for traditional agricultural practice where subsidies are not available. However for
applications where the cost of water is small compared to the infrastructure investment, i.e.,
glasshouses and hydroponics, the application of seawater desalination technologies is currently
viable.
Where large volumes of brackish water are available, cost-effective desalination for agriculture is
likely to be related to circumstances where high yielding brackish groundwater resources are
available close to the ocean and an existing irrigational water demand exists. Such conditions are
likely to minimise the cost of water production and distribution. Low-salinity groundwater is likely to
allow higher recovery rates and provide the possibility of mixing feedwater with the high-purity
desalinated water. Proximity to the ocean enables disposal of brine to the ocean, reducing disposal
costs compared to inland disposal via evaporation ponds or deep-well injection.
7. Conclusions
Suitable technologies such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis to provide desalinated water for
agriculture are currently available and can provide water for agriculture, but at a cost that is
currently more expensive than that generally used for agricultural purposes. The adaptation of
desalination to supply water for agriculture may be cost effective; especially when applied to high
183
value crops where the cost of the water is not a critical issue. For these applications established
technologies such as Reverse Osmosis and Electro Dialysis are being commonly applied in a
number of countries around the world. Wider application of technologies, especially for broader
scale allocations will only occur where there is limited availability of fit for purpose water for
irrigation and will depend on further developments in desalination technologies, reduction in costs,
and advancements in agricultural water-use practices that reduce water losses and increase water-
use efficiency.
In this context, the cost of water is always relative and depends on the availability of supply and its
further use. In addition we must bear in mind that food supply and water security are issues of
national importance and having an inexhaustible water resource, such as that which can be
supplied by desalination, could be a factor that may make the cost of water insignificant.
Acknowledgments
The support of the National Centre of Excellence for Desalination and the CSIRO Water for a Healthy
Country Flagship is gratefully acknowledged.
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alcohol)/maleic acid/silica hybrid membrane for desalination by pervaporation, J. Membr. Sci. 383
(2011) 96–103.
[109] Z. Xie, D. Ng, M. Hoang, T. Duong, S. Gray, Separation of aqueous salt solution by
pervaporation through hybrid organic–inorganic membrane: effect of operating conditions,
Desalination 273 (2011) 220–225.
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humidification–dehumidification process, Desalination 277 (2011) 92–98.
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192
11.1.4. M ANUAL DE BUENAS PRÁCTICAS INYECCIÓN P ROFUNDA DE RECHAZOS DE
D ESALACIÓN
193
Ana Berreteaga, Elena Campos, Irene de BUstamante, Jose Antonio Iglesias, Javier Lillo,
Domingo Zarzo
RESUMEN
Existen diversos documentos que analizan las recomendaciones de seguridad para la inyección
profunda del rechazo procedente de los distintos tratamientos de agua, como son la reutilización y
la desalación (Van Voorhess, 2001, Ramos 2001, 2003; Frazier et al., 2006; U.T.E Aquaplan-
TEC4, 2007; UIC, 2010). Este documento pretende ser un manual de buenas prácticas que reúna
todos aquellos requisitos, recomendaciones y directrices básicas necesarias para la realización de
una inyección profunda del rechazo. Para ello se han tenido en cuenta las diferentes fases de
dicho proceso (selección del emplazamiento y estudios previos, diseño, autorización, construcción
de pozo, operación y clausura) y los requisitos que se han de cumplir en cada una de ellas.
194
ÍNDICE
Prólogo
Resumen
Introducción
1. Fase de estudio
1.1.1. Características que debe cumplir una formación geológica para servir
de emplazamiento
2. Fase de diseño
3. Autorización
195
5. Fase de operación
6. Fase de clausura
196
Prólogo
Lo dije hace ya algún tiempo, y hoy lo tengo que repetir: ¡No falta agua, sobra sal!
Porque la sal, que es fuente de vida y da sabor a los alimentos, hace inutilizable al agua para
muchos usos, y es por ello que la tecnología ha puesto empeños en la desalación y la
desalobración, y ha conseguido avances muy notorios, especialmente en cuanto a costes y
rentabilidad de estas operaciones…
Pero (y siempre hay un “pero”), cuando estas operaciones se realizan alejadas del mar, el
problema lo plantean esas salmueras, rechazo de la operación, que hay que confinar, para hacer
recomendable esta operación, necesaria y beneficiosa. Y ahí es donde el almacenamiento
profundo, con el resguardo de barreras geológicas, puede ofrecer soluciones a las buenas
prácticas, que permitan el afianzamiento de estas operaciones tierra adentro, en la lejanía de los
mares.
Oportunidad, por tanto, no le falta a esta publicación, cuyas misiones deben ser las de difundir
tecnologías, ofrecer caminos de actuación, ayudar a resolver incógnitas, colaborar en la selección
de emplazamientos adecuados, aportar herramientas de buen hacer en el diseño y construcción
de los dispositivos de inyección, y facilitar el acceso a metodologías apropiadas de control y
mantenimiento.
Todo ello porque, siendo sin duda la inyección una solución apropiada, también es igualmente
cierto que requiere de un conocimiento profundo, de un conjunto multivariado de aspectos y
condicionantes, para poder culminar con éxito esta operación. Y esto no sólo es cuestión que
atañe a los técnicos, con responsabilidad en este quehacer, sino que también la utilidad se
extiende a quienes, desde ámbitos de gestión del territorio y del subsuelo, tiene en su poder la
llave para que se puedan realizar estas actuaciones.
Pero, además, aquí se sacan enseñanzas y aplicaciones para otras actuaciones hidrogeológicas
como la de recarga artificial de acuíferos, a través de sondeos profundos; o la creación de barreras
positivas frente a la intrusión salina; o la explotación de yacimientos de diferentes sales por
disolución; o la minería por lixiviación profunda natural o ácida… Y esto son servicios que “sin
querer, queriendo” presta este Manual de buenas prácticas.
Y es así que, en una lectura sencilla, de fácil comprensión para los no técnicos, y adecuada para
los que lo son, se pasa revista y esquematizan aspectos trascendentes como lo son los requisitos
geológicos para ese confinamiento en profundidad, en los que no puede pasar desapercibida la
197
similitud, en algunos casos, entre el almacenamiento de estos fluidos y el de CO2, al que se están
dedicando hoy tantos esfuerzos, en actuaciones que buscan reducir el “efecto invernadero”.
Ruego que, llegado a este punto, se me permita una reticencia. Para esa inyección se habla
generalmente en el manual de “pozos”, y me voy al Diccionario de la Lengua Española (RAE,
2001), y en su primera acepción encuentro una definición sin duda obsoleta y propia de zahoríes y
radiestesistas: “Perforación que se hace en la tierra para buscar una vena de agua”, sin dejar de
ser inadecuada, también, la que lo define como “Hoyo profundo para bajar a las minas”. Algún día
la “docta corporación” debería definir con propiedad lo que es pozo y lo que es sondeo (que
entiendo es el que se realiza con una sonda, a la que el diccionario define como “Barrena que
sirve para abrir en el terreno taladros de gran profundidad”), así se evitarían confusiones y todos
nos entenderíamos mejor.
Importante es, sin duda, el abordaje que se hace en cuanto al diseño de esos pozos (para mi
“sondeos”) de inyección, clave para el éxito de la operación, para evitar problemas con los
contextos hidrogeológicos que atraviesa, y para la vida y perdurabilidad de la obra. Y también se
aborda lo referente a equipamiento de tuberías y obturadores y, como no podía ser menos, lo que
constituyen los controles de la operación, para garantía de la misma, previsión de acciones
correctoras, y base de seguimiento y decisiones.
Para completar el panorama y la amplia visión que se ofrece, en este manual, se hace un repaso a
los distintos problemas que se pueden presentar, de muy diferente etiología, hasta llegar al
planeamiento de clausura de la instalación.
Tal vez alguien podría pensar que un manual de apenas 50 páginas debería pasar casi de
puntillas sobre muchos aspectos, sin embargo, conforme se desgrana y saborea su contenido, se
percibe más y más la utilidad del mismo y el aporte fundamental que va a prestar a los que se
inician en este quehacer, pero también a los que lo rondamos desde hace mucho tiempo. Es así
que este manual debe traspasar fronteras y tener máxima difusión en los países hermanos de
Iberoamérica, donde tanto se aprecian los aportes bibliográficos españoles.
198
Con todos estos componentes se puede asegurar la oportunidad de esta publicación, fruto del
buen andar conjunto de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, a través de IMDEA Agua, y del
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, a través de Consolider – Tragua.
199
RESUMEN
Existen diversos documentos que analizan las recomendaciones de seguridad para la inyección
profunda del rechazo procedente de los distintos tratamientos de agua, como son la reutilización y
la desalación (Van Voorhess, 2001, Ramos 2001, 2003; Frazier et al., 2006; U.T.E Aquaplan-
TEC4, 2007; UIC, 2010). Este documento pretende ser un manual de buenas prácticas que reúna
todos aquellos requisitos, recomendaciones y directrices básicas necesarias para la realización de
una inyección profunda del rechazo. Para ello se han tenido en cuenta las diferentes fases de
dicho proceso (selección del emplazamiento y estudios previos, diseño, autorización, construcción
de pozo, operación y clausura) y los requisitos que se han de cumplir en cada una de ellas.
200
INTRODUCCIÓN
Para evitar estos fenómenos, es necesario establecer unos criterios y requisitos básicos, tanto a la
hora de seleccionar la formación donde depositar la salmuera, como en el resto de fases del
proceso de inyección. La complejidad de cualquier proyecto de almacenamiento subterráneo hace
necesario evaluar cada caso de manera individualizada, pudiéndose establecer criterios de
seguridad y medioambientales a aplicar en todos los casos. En este manual se establecen algunos
criterios y recomendaciones para cada fase de un proyecto de inyección, desde la selección de
formaciones adecuadas para el emplazamiento subterráneo o profundo del rechazo, hasta la
clausura del pozo de inyección. Este manual trata de aunar todas las recomendaciones de
seguridad, basándose en trabajos y experiencias de inyección previos (Van Voorhess, 2001,
Ramos 2001, 2003; Frazier et al., 2006; U.T.E Aquaplan-TEC4,2007; UIC, 2010). Estos autores no
están citados en cada una de las recomendaciones que aparecen aquí, sin embargo, todas ellas
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están tomadas de uno u otro modo en estos trabajos y/o experiencias. Hay que tener en cuenta
que son criterios mínimos, y que la especificidad del fluido a inyectar y las condiciones geológicas
de cada caso concreto, pueden determinar que haya que establecer criterios adicionales.
El objetivo final de todas las recomendaciones es la realización de una inyección profunda segura,
de manera que se evite hipotecar otros recursos, como el agua subterránea, y asegurar la
eficiencia de la inyección, impidiendo el deterioro de la formación almacén.
Cada una de las fases presenta una problemática distinta, requiriendo un nivel mínimo de control y
vigilancia en el desarrollo de cada una de ellas.
1. Fase de estudio
1.1.1. Características que debe cumplir una formación geológica para servir de
emplazamiento del rechazo.
Es necesario que la formación almacén cumpla una serie de requisitos geológicos y legales que se
detallan en el Cuadro 1.
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Requisitos Características Criterios específicos
203
Régimen hidráulico de la formación conocido, ya
Hidráulicas que la estrategia de inyección ha de ser
coherente con él.
Cuadro 1. Características que debe cumplir una formación para ser considerada como potencial
almacén del rechazo proveniente de la desalación.
Una vez establecidas las características que ha de cumplir la formación para ser un potencial
almacén de salmueras (Cuadro 1), se deduce que los posibles emplazamientos del rechazo se
reducen a los siguientes tipos (Cuadro 2):
Cuadro 2. Posibles emplazamientos para la inyección profunda del rechazo de las plantas de
tratamiento de agua según los criterios generales establecidos en el cuadro 1.
Visto esto y dado el auge actual y la gran cantidad de información generada para el
almacenamiento de CO2, cabe destacar que los almacenes para salmuera son prácticamente los
mismos que para el CO2 exceptuando que:
• El almacén de CO2 tiene necesariamente que estar a más de 800 metros de profundidad,
el almacén de salmuera no.
• Las capas de carbón no explotables y los domos salinos se contemplan como posibles
almacenes de CO2, pero no de salmuera
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1.1.3. Criterios para la selección del emplazamiento
Son varios los criterios que conviene seguir para seleccionar la formación almacén más
conveniente, de entre todas aquellas identificadas como potenciales almacenes. Sea de manera
directa o indirecta, estos criterios tienen un acusado componente económico y/o ambiental:
Estos criterios no son excluyentes, pero hay que ponderar su importancia en cada caso, para las
potenciales formaciones y posibles puntos de inyección asociados a estas.
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1.2. Compatibilidad de fluidos (Cuadro 3)
Las características físico químicas del residuo a inyectar (teniendo en cuenta todos los
tratamientos químicos, físicos, biológicos o térmicos que puede sufrir el residuo antes de ser
inyectado) deben ser compatibles con los componentes mecánicos del sistema de inyección, con
el fluido natural que alberga la formación almacén y con la naturaleza de la propia formación
almacén. De manera que no se produzca una corrosión que afecte al sistema de inyección, ni
reacciones de precipitación o de disolución que puedan llegar a obturar el almacén o a provocar
una movilización de material que llegue generar colapsos (apartado 2.3 de este trabajo). Así, es
importante evitar una composición de fluido que al interaccionar con la roca almacén y el fluido
que esta alberga, produzca la conversión de especies solubles en insolubles, dando lugar a
precipitaciones, que puedan llegar a taponar el sistema de inyección. Igualmente, un fluido con
diferente carga iónica podría producir la floculación de coloides en suspensión, lo que puede ocluir
los poros y huecos intergranulares, disminuyendo drásticamente la porosidad eficaz.
206
La diferencia de densidad del residuo a inyectar y el fluido existente en la formación almacén,
condicionan considerablemente el movimiento que puede tener el fluido inyectado en la formación.
Es preferible que la densidad del residuo sea mayor que la del fluido de la formación, pues el
residuo se dispersará aprovechando todos los espacios de almacenamiento, en caso contrario el
residuo quedará localizado en las partes superiores de la formación.
Cuadro 4. Resumen de los datos necesarios para evaluar la viabilidad de inyección en una
formación.
207
La caracterización del medio en el que se va a llevar a cabo la inyección se basa en la realización
de un estudio hidrogeológico, con un buen conocimiento geológico y estructural del área donde se
ubica el almacén, que abarquen tanto a la formación almacén como a las que la sellan. Igualmente
se deben caracterizar los fluidos que contengan las formaciones almacén y sus suprayacentes.
Estos datos son necesarios para realizar el diseño del pozo de inyección y evitar reacciones o
procesos físico-químicos no deseados, que puedan malograr la formación, la instalación del pozo
y los elementos mecánicos de la inyección.
La adquisición de datos se puede llevar a cabo mediante diversas técnicas, que variarán en
función de la localización y condiciones geológicas de cada caso. Entre ellas se incluyen técnicas
geofísicas para el conocimiento del subsuelo (sísmica de reflexión, diagrafías etc...), la realización
de sondeos y ensayos para el estudio de las propiedades físico-químicas de presión, temperatura,
composición de la rocas confinantes y de la roca almacén y del fluido que alberga. El estudio de
todas estas características (Cuadro 4) permite establecer la posibilidad de que un emplazamiento
funcione o no como almacén del rechazo, y en caso afirmativo, estas características condicionarán
directamente el diseño del pozo, el caudal de inyección e incluso, la duración de operación del
pozo de inyección
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El cálculo del volumen libre o disponible consiste en la estimación del volumen total de poros,
válido para el almacenamiento en la formación seleccionada como almacén, reducido por algunos
factores que impiden la ocupación total del espacio (heterogeneidad, efectos de diferencias de
densidad, etc.). Existen diversos métodos para llevar a cabo este cálculo (Bradshaw et al. 2005,
Ruiz et al. 2007 y 2009 y Hurtado et al. 2008), aunque la mayor parte de estas técnicas han sido
desarrolladas para el almacenamiento de CO2 y por ello es necesario aplicarles algunos cambios
dada la diferente naturaleza de los fluidos inyectados.
El conocimiento de las posibles reacciones del fluido a inyectar al entrar en contacto con el fluido
de formación y la roca almacén es imprescindible, ya que permite evitar problemas derivados de la
precipitación y/o disolución de algunas fases minerales. Para primeras aproximaciones al cálculo
de posibles reacciones, se pueden utilizar códigos o modelos matemáticos de mezcla ya
existentes, en los que partiendo de las composiciones y condiciones de los diferentes fluidos se
pueden obtener las posibles reacciones de mezcla. Es evidente que la mezcla de fluidos y su
interacción con la roca encajante darán lugar a un sistema dinámico. El cálculo de los índices de
solubilidad de los diferentes minerales nos indicará la posibilidad de disolución o precipitación de
los mismos. A pesar de que parece relativamente sencillo de evaluar con la ayuda de los códigos
existentes, la cinética de las reacciones hace que sea una tarea complicada. También será
necesario conocer las posibles reacciones del fluido a inyectar con las partes integrantes del pozo,
con la finalidad de evitar posibles deterioros y corrosiones de las mismas. Estos valores definen la
inyectabilidad de un fluido en una formación concreta.
Una vez valorada la posibilidad de precipitación es necesario llevar a cabo una estimación de la
pérdida de porosidad originada por la precipitación secundaria (lo mismo es aplicable, pero en
sentido contrario, en el caso de procesos de disolución/corrosión).
En definitiva, el grado de conocimiento de la formación almacén, el fluido que alberga esta y las
formaciones confinantes condicionan toda la operación de inyección y, por tanto, todo el estudio
de viabilidad de la misma depende de la precisión en el conocimiento de estos elementos. Un
buen estudio de viabilidad facilitará el diseño y, por tanto, el desarrollo de toda de la operación de
inyección.
2. Fase de diseño
En esta fase se definen el diseño constructivo, así como los planes de monitorización, de
explotación u operación y de clausura y sellado.
2.1. Datos necesarios para el diseño del pozo y parámetros mínimos a establecer (Cuadro
6).
Son necesarios todos los datos recogidos durante la etapa previa o fase de estudio, ya que estos
van a condicionar el diseño del pozo
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Profundidad del acuífero (con agua apta para algún uso)
suprayacente más próximo a la formación almacén, en
el área del pozo a proteger.
Presión de inyección
Parámetros de diseño que hay que
210
establecer Temperatura de inyección
Caudal de inyección
La temperatura del fluido a inyectar también es un parámetro que debe ser establecido
previamente, dada su influencia en las reacciones que puedan tener lugar durante la inyección.
Lo primero que se tiene que establecer es el diámetro del pozo, en función de múltiples factores,
como inyectividad (apartado 5.1.), inyectabilidad, caudal y velocidad de inyección que se pretende
obtener, presión de inyección, profundidad de la inyección etc… Todos estos factores
condicionarán la construcción del pozo y materiales a utilizar, desde la perforación hasta su
clausura.
211
Fase Descripción
- La primera fase consiste en perforar hasta la base de la formación acuífera a proteger más
profunda, seguidamente se introduce hasta el fondo de esta primera perforación una
tubería de acero de unos 170-300 mm de diámetro exterior. Se cementa el espacio anular
entre la tubería y la pared de la perforación, para que no haya ninguna contaminación o
interferencia con el acuífero a proteger.
Existen dos esquemas básicos para la ejecución de la parte del sondeo que atraviesa la
formación almacén; la selección de uno u otro sistema depende de la consistencia y
litología del almacén.
212
- Sondeo abierto
Este método se usa para formaciones muy consolidadas (areniscas y carbonatos
principalmente). En este caso se perfora hasta el techo de la formación, se instala
el entubado y se cementa hasta la superficie. A continuación se perfora en menor
diámetro desde el techo de la formación almacén hasta la base del sondeo.
213
2.2.2. Diseño de las fases constructivas (Cuadro 8)
En la parte superior
donde se
encuentran las
inyección de la tubería de
Selección del revestimiento >170
Diámetro del pozo • Presión de inyección
diámetro del pozo – 300 mm En el
• Materia disponible para la
resto de la
construcción del pozo
perforación,
• Profundidad de la
diámetro de la
inyección
tubería de
revestimineto > 140
– 260 mm
• Profundidad - Rotopercusión
Método de
Perforación • Diámetro - Percusión
perforación
• Velocidad de avance - Rotación inversa
• Litologías que perforar - Rotación directa
• Diámetro
• Resistencia
• Compatibilidad con el
fluido de inyección
(protección a la corrosión
Dimensiones y - Fibra de vidrio
• Poder de corrosión del
clases de tuberías reforzada con
fluido inyectado y del
(espesor, diámetro, plásticos y resina
Tubería de fluido de la formación a
peso nominal, epoxi
inyección sus respectivas
longitud tipo de temperaturas
unión y material de
• Vida útil del pozo - Diferentes aceros
construcción).
• Profundidad de la zona de inoxidables
inyección.
• Presión de la inyección,
presión externa, presión
interna y carga axial.
• Litología (composición y
214
textura) de las zonas de
inyección y confinamiento.
- Sondeo abierto
• Litología y consistencia de
- Entubado
la formación almacén
Parte inferior del perforado y
Sistema • Poder de corrosión del
pozo empaquetamient
fluido inyectado, del fluido
o de grava
de la formación y sus
respectivas temperaturas
• Material de la tubería de
inyección - Diferentes tipos
de obturadores
Obturadores Tipo de obturador • Presiones en las tuberías
en el mercado
y espacio anular
• Composición de los
diferentes fluidos
• Materiales en contacto
Relleno Aceite inerte
con el espacio anular
Espacio anular
• Fluido inyectado
Diámetro
• Caudal de inyección
• Profundidad de la zona de
inyección.
• Presión de la inyección,
presión externa, presión
interna y carga axial.
• Diámetro del pozo.
• Dimensiones y clases de
Tuberías de
tuberías del entubado
revestimiento
(espesor, diámetro, peso
Material
superficial y
nominal, longitud tipo de
general (a lo largo
Espesor unión y material de
de todo el
construcción).
sondeo)
• Poder de corrosión del
fluido inyectado, del fluido
de la formación y sus
temperaturas.
• Litología de las zonas de
inyección y confinamiento.
• Tipo y calidad del
cemento.
215
• Diámetro de la tubería de
revestimiento y diámetro Espesor mínimo
Espesor
Cementación del pozo aproximado 13 cm
superficial y • Naturaleza del cemento
general (a lo largo empleado
de todo el • Fluido inyectado
sondeo) • Aditivos utilizados durante
Cementos
Naturaleza del
la realización del pozo
cemento empleado Resina epoxi
• Formaciones o litologías
con las que entra en
contacto
Cuadro 8. Factores que condicionan el diseño de un pozo de inyección
Perforación
Elementos constructivos
Los principales elementos que conforman el pozo son: tuberías de revestimiento, cementaciones
anulares, tubería de inyección y obturador, tal y como se muestra en la Fig. 1.
216
Fig. 1. Esquema de los elementos principales recomendados para un sondeo de inyección
profunda: Cabeza de pozo, tuberías de revestimiento, cementaciones anulares, tubería de
inyección, obturador y medidores de presión.
Es muy importante considerar los materiales utilizados en la construcción del pozo ya que
determinarán, en gran medida, el grado de conservación, y la vida útil del pozo.
Los factores que afectan al diseño de los diferentes elementos constructivos son principalmente:
- Poder de corrosión del fluido inyectado, del fluido de la formación y sus temperaturas.
217
Tubería de inyección
Es el tubo a través del que se inyecta el residuo a almacenar. Permite llevar el fluido inyectado
desde la superficie hasta la zona de inyección, aislándolo de la tubería de revestimiento,
reduciendo la corrosión y prolongando la longevidad de los pozos. El material de esta tubería ha
de ser resistente a la corrosión provocada por el fluido a inyectar, y dadas las altas profundidades
a las que se trabajará son necesarios materiales de una resistencia adecuada, para evitar la rotura
y el colapso. En el caso de la inyección de salmueras, los materiales utilizados en el entubado son
plásticos reforzados con fibra de vidrio que presentan la ventaja de ser bastante económicos, pero
únicamente son idóneas para poca profundidad; no siendo aptos en inyección profunda (más de
1000 metros), por su baja resistencia. En ese caso, generalmente se usa acero inoxidable.
En algunos casos de inyección profunda, se puede prever la instalación de una segunda tubería
de inyección, en función de la vida útil del pozo y del tipo de residuo que se vaya a inyectar.
Obturadores
Los obturadores son dispositivos cuya finalidad es mantener aislada la zona de inyección del resto
del pozo. El tipo de fluido a inyectar y las presiones que va a sufrir son factores importantes para el
diseño y /o elección del obturador.
La adhesión del cemento y la tubería de revestimiento deben de ser óptimas para conseguir un
aislamiento máximo.
218
Entre los factores a tener en cuenta para la elección de la tubería de revestimiento y la
cementación es imprescindible considerar: 1) la profundidad de la zona de inyección, 2) la presión
de inyección, la presión externa, la presión interna, y la carga axial, 3) el tamaño del pozo, 4) el
tamaño y diámetro de la tubería de revestimiento, 5) corrosividad y temperatura del líquido
inyectado y de los fluidos de la formación, 6) litología de la zona de inyección y de los intervalos de
confinamiento y 7) tipo o grado de cementación. Además, debido a que la tubería de revestimiento
y el cemento estarán en contacto con los fluidos inyectados en la zona de inyección, la naturaleza
del cemento empleado ha de ser compatible con el fluido a inyectar, para evitar la corrosión y las
fugas. En numerosas construcciones de este tipo se usan aditivos para proteger al cemento frente
a la corrosión o degradación. En el caso de que no se pueda garantizar la protección anticorrosión,
o se utilicen otros aditivos que puedan afectar negativamente al cemento, este se puede sustituir
por una resina de epoxi.
En función de las características de la inyección y del marco geológico donde se realice esta, se
establecerá un área de control alrededor del pozo durante la inyección. Como regla general, se
establece un radio mínimo de 3,5 Km (EPA), siempre y cuando las condiciones, fundamentalmente
geológicas, no determinen la necesidad de un área mayor. En estos casos, el área de control se
acomodará a cada situación principalmente en función de posibles problemas de migración del
fluido.
Parámetros Presión
mínimos que
Temperatura
controlar
durante toda la
Caudal inyectado
inyección
219
El espacio anular entre el tubo de inyección y el entubado exterior se
rellena con un aceite inerte. El flujo salino ejerce una presión anular a lo
Ejemplo de
largo de toda la columna. Esta presión del fluido anular debe mantenerse
sistema
constante, siempre que no haya un deterioro de la cementación o del
entubado (Fig. 2). Johnston et al (1997).
220
Fig. 2. Sistema de control de la presión. Johnston et al (1997).
221
En esta fase de diseño además de la construcción y monitorización también se han de establecer
los parámetros de la operación (apartado 5 de este manual) y el plan de la clausura y sellado
(apartado 6 de este manual).
3. Autorización
La normativa para la autorización de una inyección profunda varía según el país, por lo que en
este apartado sólo se trata la normativa vigente en el Estado Español.
La desalación de las aguas continentales tienen que someterse al régimen previsto en el Real
Decreto Legislativo 1/2001 para la explotación del dominio público hidráulico (capítulo V, artículo
13).
Además, la inyección profunda está contemplada en la sección B del artículo 3 de la Ley 22/1973
de Minas, por lo que parece preceptivo solicitar autorización de aprovechamiento de la “estructura
subterránea”, que debe incluir el proyecto justificativo de la necesidad de dicha utilización, así
como la designación del perímetro de protección.
Por otra parte, todo el proyecto debe estar sometido a un estudio de impacto, de manera que se le
aplicará la ley de responsabilidad medioambiental y reglamento en vigor (Ley 26/2007 y Real
Decreto 2090 /2008)
4.1. Requisitos
- Seguir al detalle las directrices que han sido indicadas en la fase previa de diseño y
planificación en todos los aspectos (presiones, condiciones del residuo a inyectar,
vigilancia y control, etc.)
- Construcción de un pozo piloto de investigación siempre y cuando el grado de
incertidumbre de la información existente en la zona lo haga necesario.
- Evitar el vertido en superficie de fluidos procedentes de la construcción del pozo, o de
acuíferos perforados que presenten agua de baja calidad.
- Obtención del mayor número de datos, estudios etc. posibles, para poder realizar con
mayor criterio las fases de operación y clausura.
- Recopilación en un informe final de todas las incidencias ocurridas durante la realización
del pozo y las modificaciones del proyecto original, en caso que se hubieran producido,
exponiendo las causas que las generaron.
- Elaboración de un informe con los resultados recopilados de todas las pruebas que se
hayan realizado en el pozo (bombeo, inyección, etc.)
222
- Redacción de un manual de operación y mantenimiento, para que los operarios del
sistema puedan conocer el funcionamiento del mismo y cómo actuar en caso de
emergencia (manual de contingencia).
Después de instalar el
Adhesión del cemento, perfiles de
revestimiento superficial
temperaturas y densidad
y la cementación anular
223
una hora y sin caídas de presión
Prueba de bombeo
5. Fase de operación
Una vez llevada a cabo una comprobación positiva de la estabilidad del pozo (Apartado 4.3 de
este manual) se puede proceder a la fase de operación. Durante esta fase es fundamental seguir
estrictamente el proyecto, ajustándose a las especificaciones establecidas en el mismo.
224
5.1. Control durante la inyección del residuo (Cuadro 12)
Presión anular
225
regional, la formación almacén y el residuo a inyectar tienen particularidades que son analizadas
con detenimiento en la fase de estudio para que las condiciones de inyección sean óptimas. Los
parámetros a medir y los intervalos de medición dependen de diversos factores. Sin embargo, en
todas las inyecciones, es aconsejable controlar de forma continuada y durante toda operación de
inyección los siguientes parámetros:
El estudio de las reacciones químicas que se están produciendo durante la inyección requiere un
control de la composición química del fluido inyectado y del fluido en la formación. Los parámetros
químicos a determinar y su frecuencia de medida son variables, en función de los casos. Como
mínimo, es aconsejable una frecuencia, al menos, trimestral. Así mismo, una prueba de integridad
mecánica externa garantiza que los líquidos inyectados permanecen en la formación objetivo y
que no afectan a la porción de tubería de revestimiento debajo del obturador o al cemento de la
parte inferior del orificio. La prueba de integridad mecánica externa se basa en: trazador
radioactivo, temperatura, sónicos o de evaluación del cemento. El intervalo de tiempo adecuado
para estos registros depende de la naturaleza de la formación y de los líquidos inyectados. Un
intervalo típico sería de cinco años; sin embargo, debe existir la posibilidad de ajustar el intervalo
en función de la naturaleza y el volumen del fluido inyectado y de la formación que lo recibe.
226
pérdida de porosidad y permeabilidad en la formación inyectada, ocasionado generalmente por un
relleno u oclusión de los poros. Si contrariamente la pendiente disminuye implica un aumento del
radio de influencia, probablemente debido a una fractura inducida hidráulicamente. La evolución
del índice de inyección puede revelar daños en el pozo, drenaje del residuo hacia otros niveles, u
otras deficiencias que pueden surgir durante la inyección.
Para conocer qué daños ha podido sufrir el pozo, es útil conocer la evolución del pozo y las
incidencias que ha habido durante la realización de la perforación. Un conocimiento del estado de
esfuerzos al que está sometida la formación, también es útil en la identificación de posibles
fracturas hidráulicas que se pueden dar en el sistema. Por ejemplo, en general, en las formaciones
sedimentarias los esfuerzos verticales aumentan proporcionalmente con la profundidad (presión
litostática), mientras que los esfuerzos laterales son función de las condiciones geológicas
existentes.
5.2. Algunos posibles problemas durante la operación de inyección (cuadro 13) (Tomado de
Ramos, 2001)
La mayoría de los efectos negativos que se pueden presentar tienen que ver con pérdidas de
inyectividad, fundamentalmente por disminución de la porosidad de la roca almacén al obturarse
los poros. Pueden producirse colmataciones debido a la presencia de finos procedentes de la
perforación o el arrastre de fjnos de la propia formación. Igualmente, se pueden producir
colmataciones debidas a procesos químicos de precipitación por un cambio de temperatura,
reacción del lodo de perforación con el agua del almacén, reacción entre la salmuera y la roca
almacén y/o el agua contenida. O colmataciones debidas a la existencia de partículas en
suspensión en la salmuera.
227
Posibles problemas durante la operación de inyección
Presencia de microorganismos y
organismos vivos
Cuadro 13. Resumen de algunos de los problemas más habituales que se pueden dar en una
operación de inyección profunda. Un buen estudio durante las fases previas evitaría la mayor parte
de ellos.
228
- Obturación del pozo de inyección por acumulación de precipitados en el fondo
- Oclusión de los poros de la formación almacén en el entorno cercano al pozo
- Formación de una costra de precipitación sobre el material de la formación, en la pared del
sondeo
C) Presencia de burbujas de gas puede dar lugar a problemas de obturación del pozo, perdiendo
capacidad de inyección, especialmente en litologías detríticas.
Todo este tipo de problemas se deben prever en las fases de estudio y de diseño, aunque durante
la perforación también se obtiene información. Para evitarlos es necesario (apartados 1.2 y 1.3 de
este manual):
- Dispersión hidrodinámica
- Flujo multifase
- Flujo en medios fracturados
- Reacciones químicas y microbiológicas
- Desconocimiento de la extensión y los contaminantes en la zona saturada.
229
- Cambios en el movimiento del fluido debido a la dispersión y/o floculación física, adsorción
e intercambio iónico, disolución y/o precipitación de minerales e iones
Un correcto diseño del sellado y abandono de un pozo puede evitar, en un futuro, posibles
problemas de contaminación en los acuíferos de agua potable. El programa de clausura detallado
debe presentarse a la autoridad antes de otorgarse la autorización de explotación. Una vez
terminada la explotación dicho programa puede ser revisado.
Antes de abandonar el pozo de inyección, es necesario que éste sea sellado con cemento para
evitar el movimiento del fluido residual hacia los acuíferos.
No se dispone de una legislación española que marque las directrices en la realización de esta
etapa de abandono de una inyección profunda. La guía base de sellado y abandono puede
basarse en los criterios establecidos en EEUU por UIC y la EPA para la clausura de un pozo de
inyección profunda de clase I.
230
Actividades Descripción
Disminución de la presión
Toma de muestras
Información hidrogeológica
Documentación
Los requerimientos básicos que hay que cumplir para el sellado, clausura y abandono de un pozo,
deberían ser (cuadro14):
231
Igualmente, este plazo tendrá que ajustarse a la regulación existente si hubiera lugar.
- Disminución de la presión. Las caídas de presión se deben medir para cada intervalo de
tiempo que marque el proyecto de diseño y construcción del pozo.
- Integridad de la instalación. El propietario u operador del pozo deberá realizar ante un
responsable del organismo competente una demostración de los mecanismos que se usan
habitualmente en el funcionamiento de la inyección de un pozo. Las demostraciones han
de incluir como mínimo un test de presión, test y log del entubado, control de la
cementación y los diferentes parámetros del flujo. Es importante que todos los sondeos de
control se mantengan en funcionamiento y en buen estado de conservación para que una
vez esté cerrada la operación se pueda tener un control del fluido y su evolución.
- Fluidos amortiguadores. Con la finalidad de asegurar el aislamiento del rechazo es
conveniente inyectar un fluido amortiguador adecuado antes del abandono del pozo. Hay
que tener en cuenta las condiciones físico-químicas que se pueden dar con el fluido
existente en la formación almacén, así como también con en el mismo fluido inyectado.
- Medidas de prevención para impedir el movimiento del fluido existente entre el entubado y
dentro y fuera del pozo. El pozo ha de ser sellado de manera que se evite el movimiento
de fluidos desde la zona de inyección al acuífero protegido:
En todos los casos, la presión es un parámetro que debe ser controlado y, si es posible, con tomas
de medida periódicas para poder ver la evolución de la misma.
Han de llevarse a cabo un plan de seguimiento y una serie de controles después de la clausura y
232
abandono de la inyección. El plan de control y seguimiento, debe ser entregado antes de
comenzada la explotación y revisado antes de que el informe de abandono sea entregado, debe
incluir:
Estimación del coste del mantenimiento y seguimiento de todo el programa de control hasta el
abandono definitivo de la instalación.
- Información hidrogeológica
Información que ayude a valorar la posible migración futura del residuo desde la zona de
inyección. Ha de incluir la siguiente información:
El sistema de control y seguimiento debe incluir piezómetros de control en los que se registre en
continuo la presión y los parámetros de calidad del agua, al menos, hasta el tiempo establecido en
el apartado 2c de planes de después del abandono.
- Informe final
233
- Volumen total de residuo inyectado en cada pozo y ritmos de inyección.
- El tiempo total de inyección.
- La zona de inyección y las características de la capa confinante
- Relación de los escapes que se han dado durante la inyección y una
estimación del rango de escape que pueden tener durante el abandono y
la clausura.
- Conservación de la relación de los volúmenes y la composición del
residuo inyectado durante, al menos, tres años después de la clausura.
- Resultados del control analítico.
- Resultados de los test de control de estanqueidad.
ABREVIATURAS
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
Bradshaw, J., Bachu, S., Bonijoly, D., Burruss, R., Christensen, N.P. & Mathiassen, O. M. (2005).
Discussion Paper on CO2 Storage Capacity Estimation. Phase 1. The CSLF Technical Group
Meeting. Ovideo. Spain.
(http://www.cslforum.org/documents/oviedo_storage_capacity_estimation.pdf).
Donalson, Erle C.; Thomas, Rex D.; Johnston, Kenneth H. (1974). Subsurface Waste Injection in
the United States: Fifteen Case Histories. Bureau of Mines, Washington, D.C.
Frazier, M., Platt, S., Codrington, A. & Heare, S. F. (2006). Drinking Water Treatment Residual
Injection Wells. Technical Recommendations. Technical Report. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), Underground injection Control (UIC), National Technical Workgroup (NTW), 36pp.
Hurtado, A.; Eguilior, S.; Prado, A. J.; Ruiz, C.; Campos, R.; Lomba, L.; Pelayo, M.; Pérez del
Villar, L.; Recreo, F. (2008). Almacenamiento geológico de CO2: Metodología de estimación de
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Capacidades. Comunicación escrita en el IX Congreso Nacional de Medio Ambiente (CONAMA)
Madrid. Diciembre 2008. 31pp.
Johnston, W.R., Tanji, K.K., Burns, R.T. (1997). Drainage water disposal. In FAO. Management of
agricultural drainage water quality, by C.A. Madramootoo, W.R. Johnston & L.S. Willardson, eds.
FAO Water Reports No. 13. Rome.
Molina, J.A. y Lozano, J. (2009). Técnicas de perforación de sondeos para captación de aguas
subterráneas. In: Conceptos y Técnicas en hidrogeología. Monografías sobre geología aplicada I.
Nicot, J. P., Chowdhury, A.H. (2005). Disposal of brackish water concentrate into depleted oil and
gas fields: a texas study. Desalination, 181: 61-74.
Ramos, G. (2001). Gestión de la salmuera de rechazo de las plantas de ósmosis inversa mediante
inyección en sondeos profundos (ISP). In: Los acuíferos costeros y las desaladoras. Pulido Bosch,
A., Vallejo Izquierdo, A., Pulido Leboeuf, P.A. eds. Universidad de Almería. 225-253
Ruiz, C., Prado, A. J. ; Campos R., Hurtado A., Pelayo M., de la Losa A., Martínez R., Ortiz G.,
Sastre J., Pérez del Villar L. , Eguilior S., Lomba L., Recreo F. (2009). Almacenamiento geológico
de CO2: criterios de selección de emplazamientos. X Congreso Nacional de Medio Ambiente
(CONAMA).
Ruiz, C., Recreo, F., Prado, P., Campos, R., Pelayo, M., de la Losa, A., Hurtado, A., Lomba, L.,
Pérez del Villar, L., Martínez, R., Ortiz, G., Sastre, J., Zapatero, M.A., Suárez, I. y Arenillas, A.
(2007). Almacenamiento geológico de CO2. Criterios de selección de emplazamientos. Informes
Técnicos CIEMAT, 1106, 100 pp.
Saripalli, K.P., Sharma, M.M. & Bryant, S.L. (2000). Modeling injection well performance during
deep-well injection of liquid wastes. Journal of Hydrology, 227: 41-55.
U.T.E Aquaplan-TEC4 (2007). Estudi hidrogeologic per l’analisi de la viabilitat de la injecció directa
de salmorres producte de la desplació a la planta d’Abrera d’Atll. Informe técnico FCIHS, 90pp.
Van Voorhees, R. F. (2001). Removed From The Environment. Environmental Law Institute.
Washington. 23-31.
235
PORTALES WEB DE INTERES
Editor:
Consolider Tragua
ISBN:
978-84-695-3633-9
Diseño y maquetación:
236
11.1.5. 7 YEAR OPERATION OF A BWRO PLANT WITH RAW WATER FROM A COASTAL
AQUIFER FOR AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION
237
7 Years Operation of BWRO Plant with Raw Water from Coastal Aquifer for Agriculture
Irrigation
ABSTRACT
This paper will show the most relevant aspects in the 7 year operation period in the management of
the O&M (operation and maintenance) at a BWRO (brackish water reverse osmosis) plant at
Cuevas de Almanzora, Almeria, Spain. This plant has a current capacity of water production of
25,000 m3/d and it was built to supplying agricultural consumers in the proximity of the plant.
Cuevas de Almanzora BWRO plant is an exceptional plant in many aspects: 1) It is a plant working
with brackish water but it was designed to be able to working with seawater with regards to
materials, qualities and pressures (except the high pressure pump), and it could even be converted
easily into a seawater plant; 2) Extensive hydrogeological studies have been completed allowing
the control of aquifer exploitation and water extraction in the seawater-brackish water interface; 3)
Water is distributed to different agricultural users with different water quality requirements (it
produces “a la carte” water); 4) RO trains include inter stage energy recovery device to improve the
hydraulic equilibrium between stages and reducing the energy consumption. This paper will
present the following aspects: BWRO plant description; Results of the aquifer hydrogeological
studies for the determination of saline intrusion. Conclusions and operation guidelines; Operation of
the plant, results, operational problems arising from increasing salinity and specifically from
sulphates; Description of the planned changes at the plant to allowing a possible future conversion
into an SWRO plant; O&M costs.
238
1. Introduction
1.1. Desalination for agriculture in the area
Spain suffers a serious lack of water resources which is aggravated with time and includes cyclical
drought periods. In this worrying situation the cases of general water use are prioritized for human
supply, leaving other uses of agricultural irrigation, recreational uses as golf courses, irrigation of
parks and gardens and urban services in the second place. For this reason the use of potable
water is restricted, therefore it is necessary to look for other non conventional resources (reuse,
brackish and seawater desalination). For example, in Spain the use of potable water for irrigation of
golf courses is totally forbidden. Then, in the case of Spain, farmers and other users of this water
have assumed in their production costs the price of this new water coming from desalination or
reuse installations.
From water shortage around 1995, many farmers and agricultural businessmen decided to install
desalination plants in the South East of Spain (mainly Mediterranean coastal areas) to solve the
problem of available resources. In Spain these technologies were previously used in Canary Island
but it was the first time in the mainland. We estimate that between 1995 and 2000 more than 200
desalination plants were installed for this application in this area, with typical sizes ranging between
100 and 5,000 m3 /d, with some plants treating more than 10,000 m3 /d.
Two examples of it are the Mazarron and Cuevas de Almanzora plants, with sizes of 13,500 and
25,000 m3 /d, respectively. Mazarron plant was built following a project from the owner and
although it incorporated some technical innovations as energy recovery devices (turbocharger) it
was not successful due to the increase of salinity in less than a year from 9,000 ppm of TDS (total
dissolved solids) to more than 20,000 ppm of TDS, being finally restored into a seawater
desalination plant with larger capacity. The plant at Cuevas de Almanzora (Fig. 1) is described in
this paper.
The implementation of ‘AGUA’ program from the Spanish Environment Ministry could change this
situation because large plants installed all over the Mediterranean coast could supply water for
human consumption, agriculture and services (although there is a discussion with the farmers
about the final price of water), leaving the small facilities built in recent years, some of which were
even illegal, unused or abandoned.
239
Fig.1. Cuevas de Almanzora BWRO
Until recent years water resources of this community came from the dam of Cuevas, which
recorded minimum levels in the last years and the contributions of water transfers from other
regions (also restricted). These allocations were insufficient meaning many farmers had to reduce
land size for their crops. Another additional problem was the increased salinity of aquifers making
groundwater useless for agricultural purposes.
In 2002 a new desalination plant began to solve the water problems of this community. The BWRO
plant was designed with some common elements for a total flow of 30,000 m3 /d, with the building,
intake and other installations ready to treat 60,000 m3 /d. Given the increasing salinity forecasts
and even the possibility of exclusive use of seawater, the plant was built with components prepared
to treat seawater including 1,200 psi pressure vessels, high pressure piping 904 L stainless steel,
etc. This makes it possible to convert existing facilities to treat seawater at a reduced cost. The
installation of RO trains (5,000 m3 /d each), train by train, recorded an increase in salinity in the
raw water. Construction stopped with 4 trains which was enough for the community needs and
maintaining a stable aquifer. In recent years another 5,000 m3 /d were added with the incorporation
of another small disused plant from a farm.
240
Design, construction and operation: Consortium between SADYT (Valoriza, Sacyr Group) and
Talleres y Gruas Gonzalez (local civil works contractor)
Project Type: Private installation partially subsidized by local government (Junta de Andalucia)
including European Community funds and with an O&M contract for 15 years.
Technology: Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant.
Purpose of Installation: To obtain quality water for agricultural irrigation.
3 3
Flow: 30,000 m /day in different stages (currently in operation 25,000 m /day)
Recovery: 65-70%
Water Quality: Brackish water underground from coastal aquifer. Conductivity between 9,000-
20,000 µS/cm (with increasing salinity)
Treated water: Contract: < 500 µS/cm
Treatment Process
1. Water Intake
By wells (6 currently), with an average depth of 20-30 m. Depth of 50 m while maintaining the water
level between 8 and 11 m.
3
2. Raw water tank 1,500 m
241
No. of trains: 4
3
Unitary flow: 5,000 m /day
3
Total flow: 20,000 m /day
3
Additionally in the last years a small 5,000 m /day plant was transported and installed into the RO
3
building increasing the total flow to 25,000 m /day. This small plant (in 2 trains) was installed with
all the required pre-treatment (sand filters, cartridge filters, chemical dosing, etc,)
Design recovery: 65-70%
Array: (34:17) x 6
Membrane: TORAY SU-720 F (1ª stage)/SU-820 FA (2ª stage)
7. CIP system
3
With cleaning and flushing pumps 270 m3/h, cartrigde filter and 2 tanks with 20 and 50 m ,
respectively, equipped with agitation and heat resistance.
8. Electrical installation
The plant has 3 transformers with 750 KVA each one, CCM, and SCADA system for control.
The outflow pipe is 650 mm in diameter with horizontal injection diffuser nozzles at the point of
discharge. The point of discharge, which derived from the environmental impact study, was
decided due to the characteristics of the river Almanzora with flooding periods and without sensitive
species, not forgetting that this is a discharge of water with lower salinity than seawater at the
mouth of a river, which is an area degraded by sediment transport.
242
Fig. 2. Cuevas de Almanzora BWRO plant
For optimization of operation management, plant is fed from different wells with different flows and
salinities, depending on behaviour of each well (those are medium values);
- Well 1 : between 17.00 µS/cm and 18.00 µS/cm (practically not used)
- Well 2 : between 9.00 µS/cm and 15.00 µS/cm
- Well 3 : between 9.00 µS/cm and 15.80 µS/cm
- Well 4 : between 7.00 µS/cm and 8.60 µS/cm
- Well 5 : between 7.00 µS/cm and 8.80 µS/cm
- Well 6 : between 8.00 µS/cm and 10.00 µS/cm
2.3. Innovations
2.3.1. Plant ready to treat different water qualities
The plant was designed knowing the problem of increasing salinity in raw water, and then the
concept of it was in 2 stages:
st
1 stage: recovery of water from the river mouth (although the intake is from wells) avoiding the
seawater. Designed to treat water with conductivity between 7,600 – 30,000 µS/cm
nd
2 stage: Progressive incorporation of seawater treatment
In the lasts years the equilibrium of the system has been maintained with growing salinity although
stable, and then the transformation into a seawater RO plant was not necessary.
243
But if it fails, we will go to the plan B. The plant is easy to transform into a seawater plant due that
the following facts:
- 1,200 psi pressure vessels
- 904 SS pipes, Sch 80 in high pressure
- GRP and materials resistant to seawater corrosion in pre-treatment
- Carbon steel filters with rubber lining
- High pressure pump has a longer shaft that would attach to a Pelton turbine. Another
option would be changing the pumps and incorporating other energy recovery devices
- Other materials (valves, pipes, fitting, instruments, etc.) also were designed for seawater
treatment
Quality of water supplied is different depending on the requirements of each end-user. The quality
requirements are also different depending of the irrigated crops e.g. tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes,
melon, etc., or type of user e.g. agriculture irrigation, golf course, sometimes even drinking water
for surrounding districts.
Quality of water supplied in controlled by means of an automatic blending of permeate and raw
water with the control of conductivity of each flow. The price is different too and is calculated by the
different registered qualities or demand.
Recently the plant has become a research centre for Sadyt, having installed some pilot plants to
research brine dilution, ZLD of brine by means of evaporation-crystallization, etc., operating on the
plant
Due to problems in the past with increasing concentration of salinity in raw water (and especially
sulphates) and the need to control the adequate dosage of antiscalant, Nalco agreed to the
installation of a Trasar 3-D system (Fig. 3), to control accurately this dosage.
244
Fig. 3. Nalco Trasar 3-D device
To predict the behaviour of the aquifer regarding time and the extraction of well water for the plant,
a series of hydrogeologic studies were conducted:
These studies were completed with a campaign of geophysical exploration by means of Electrical
tomography (technology based in the analysis of electrical resistance of ground materials). 16
profiles of electrical tomography grouped in 5 lines with direction NW-SE, perpendicular to the
coast line. Each profile was 355 m length
245
Fig. 4. Electrical tomography profiles
Fig. 5. Example of profile. (red=water with low salinity, green=brackish water, blue=seawater)
There were 3 different stripes observed in the direction NE-SW parallel to the coast;
-High conductivity (close to the sea). Conductive Materials. Very salty water
-Moderate salinity. Thick materials with brackish water in the pores. brackish water
- The most adequate area for well water intake and possible evolution of aquifer
246
-The possibility to inject brine in the salty water area (this solution was discarded finally with the
construction of the brine pipe).
2.5. Costs
Water costs are different depending on raw water quality and product water quality required for
each user. The typical distribution of costs is shown in Table 1. Normally the costs are below 0.3
€/m3.
247
Table 1. O&M costs for 17,000 µS/cm conductivity in raw water
3
Concept €/year €/m
Variable costs
Chemicals 0.048
Energy 0.127
Maintenance 0.01
Fixed costs
Personnel costs are very reduced in this case (as usual in desalination plants for agriculture
irrigation) because the plant is managed only with 4 people and night or weekend staffing is
avoided by means of alarms being sent to the mobile phones of O&M personnel.
3. Results
The graphs below (Figs. 6-8) show some characteristics of raw water in the last 4 years, e.g.
conductivity, chlorides and sulphates.
248
C ONDUC T IVIT Y
40000
35000
30000
25000 2006
20000 2007
15000 2008
10000 2009
5000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
S ulphates
3000
2500
2000 2006
1500 2007
2008
1000
2009
500
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
C hlorides
16000
14000
12000
10000 2006
8000 2007
6000 2008
4000 2009
2000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
As shown, the conductivity and chlorides in the last 4 years seem quite stable, but the sulphates
are showing different tendencies. Due to the peak of sulphates obtained in the first years of
operation was forced the temporary reduction of recovery and the change of antiscalant type.
249
SULPHATES IN RAW WATER
3400
3200
3000
2800
2600
2400
2200
2000 3.2. Problems at startup and first years
mg/l1800
1600
1400 The plant started up in late May 2003 with salinity values in raw water of 9,200-9,400 µS/cm and a
1200
1000 sulphate concentration of 2,800 ppm. Recovery was fixed at 63% using the antiscalant
800
600
‘PermaTreat 191’.
400
200
0
But a progressive increase in conductivity in the raw water was found, reaching values of 10,000–
29/04/2003 23/07/2003 16/10/2003
10,200 µS/cm09/01/2004
in only03/04/2004
one month,27/06/2004 20/09/2004 14/12/2004
with a period of maximum conductivity of 12,000 µS/cm in July
Data
2003, although this trend was stabilizing. The concentration of sulphate at this time was at values
RAW WATER
between 3,000–3,300 ppm, which forced to a reduce recovery between 55–56%. Given the low
economic viability of this recovery, a change of dosage was decided, from the antiscalant
PermaTreat 191 to a more specific product such as PermaTreat 504, which allowed the system to
raise the conversion to values of 70%.
It also shows the evolution of sulfate with time, which reflects the rapid increase between the
months of May and August of 2003, which was moderated over time to remain stable, in the last
few months settling to 2,600 ppm. Curiously, the levels of sulphates were sometimes above the
levels of sulphates in seawater and the Chloride concentration was relatively stable. The
interpretation of this problem was that perhaps it was due to the aquifer material solution. The
graph (Fig. 9) is for the purpose of showing the trend of parameters, but it can not be interpreted
rigorously because it represents blended water values from individual wells (which have different
characteristics and location), and the operation has not always worked with all the wells and
sometimes alternating wells. Some other water parameters (pH, temperature and conductivity) can
be seen in Tables 2 and 3.
250
Table 2. Some water parameters in 2009 (values obtained from 2 data per day)
• Temperatures are very stable all over the year with values around 20°C
• No membranes have been replaced from the start of the project (7 years)
• Cartridge filters have been changed usually once a year
• Only antiscalant is added as chemical treatment (Permatreat 191 and Permatreat
504 in the peak periods with high sulphate concentration)
• 1 chemical membrane clean is completed per year
• No membrane replacement has been necessary during all this time
Table 3. Some water parameters in 2009 (values obtained from 2 data per day)
Cond.
Cond. Raw Reject 1st Cond 1st
water Cond product stage stage Cond 2nd stage Cond brine
Minimum
value 14,400 335 20,200 143 249 23,265
Maximum
value 20,800 551 34,900 578 651 60,020
Average
value 17,369 431 30,933 399 441 44,135
251
Table 4.Typical operating values in year 2009
Pressures
st
P 1
st nd nd
stage P oulet 1 P inlet 2 P outlet 2
nd
(bar) stage (bar) stage stage P outlet 2 stage Pbackpressure
Energy recovery due to the turbochargers is over 30%, with a specific electrical consumption in
high pressure pumping of 0.9 kWh/m3 and 1.9 kWh/m3 in the whole plant including permeate
pumping.
Shown below (Table 5) is typical table of results, for energy recovery for a raw water conductivity of
15,000 µS/cm
Another very important issue in this plant is the use of special energy tariffs also with a
discontinuous operation. The plant stops automatically in peak and high-peak hours reducing the
energy costs. Unfortunately, sometimes the peak water demand is in months with more energy
peak hours so it is more difficult to manage this situation. Since the beginning of free market in the
electricity sector in Spain the cost of energy have changed both in terms of power and energy
increasing 59% in power cost and 35% in consumption cost. The rate 6.1 corresponds to our
facility; the costs set out in the regulated part of the electricity tariff for access to the free market are
listed in Table 6. Fixed energy costs are part of the regulated tariff because of this we must
increase the marketing and distribution costs with a formula such as:
252
Final Cost = Fixed cost + (Market Cost) x Passage Coefficient
Fixed cost = cost of the regulated rate indicated in table 6; Market cost = in the energy cost
published daily with a day in advance; Passage Coefficient = is a variable rate set by the trader; It
includes the benefit and cost of toll distribution.
Power Term
2009-
January 10,092230 5,050488 3,696118 3,696118 3,696618 1,686408 0,00%
2010
January 16,268690 8,141386 5,958142 5,958142 5,958142 2,718489 24,00%
(proposed)
2010 July 17,082124 8,548455 6,256049 6,256049 6,256049 2,854414 5,00%
Consumptio
n Term
€/kWh P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 INCREASES
2009-
January 3,571400 2,963500 1,698800 0,964500 0,622900 0,429000 0,00%
2010
January 6,964200 5,201000 2,771500 1,379300 0,890800 0,557700 0,00%
(proposed)
2010 July 7,312410 5,461050 2,910075 1,448265 0,935340 0,585585 5,00%
253
• The first option is through a flat rate for each period and it is renewed annually, in which the
trading company after their market forecasts set a price that is unchangeable during the contracted
period.
• The second option is a type of Pool. In our case, it consists of the price varying by the monthly
average for each period to which using the above formula. Therefore we are not subject to a fixed
price with the advantages and disadvantages that it implies.
Since the free market in Spain came into force we had two forms of contracts. At first our method
was tied to a fixed rate contract with an average cost of 0.07–0.08 € per kWh. After analyzing the
market trends the decision to change the type of contract to the second option provided the project
with a commitment with our client that allows us to share the benefit. Since then the cost per kWh
is below 0.06 €
4. Conclusions
The main conclusions obtained during this experience are indicated below:
• Desalination plants treating underground brackish water require rigorous studies of the
aquifer to test their possible temporal evolution and the impact on water extraction and exploitation.
• Aquifer studies can also determine the most appropriate for deposits, the optimal
operating system and the location of the discharge.
• The design of a facility of this type, and more so, in coastal aquifers, must be flexible and
able to respond to different situations of water quality an expected worsening.
• The desalination plant in Almeria Cuevas de Almanzora is a unique facility in many ways.
• It is a plant that is currently working with brackish water, but is ready to work with sea
water, in terms of materials, qualities and pressures (except pumps).
• Rigorous hydrogeological studies were undertaken which controlled the exploitation of the
aquifer and the extraction of water to be desalinated brackish water interface of seawater–water
distributed to different users with different requirements (produced water “on demand”).
254
11.2. TRABAJOS NO PUBLICADOS
TRABAJOS NO PUBLICADOS:
COMUNICACIONES A CONGRESOS
- Zarzo, D. López, A., Campos, E.; Nieto, J., Macías, F., García, M., Mateos, F.
Belmonte, A. 2016. Research and Development Project for Sustainable Treatment
of Acid Mine Drainage Water. Presentado en el 5th International Congress on
Water Management in Mining. Mayo 18-20 Santiago, Chile
- Zarzo, D.; Campos, E.; Molina, F.; Terrero, P.; Cano, J.L.; Alarcon, D.; Lopez; A.I..
2016. Development of an innovative and efficient system for solar desalination
with zero liquid discharge (ZLD). Presentado en DESAL 2016, Asociacion
Latinoamericana de Desalación. Octubre 2016, Santiago de Chile
- Molina, F., Campos, E., Zarzo. D. Energy recovery and optimization in a brackish
water desalination plant with variable salinity. 2015. Presentado en el IDA
(International Desalination Association) World Congress 2015. San Diego, USA,
Sept 2015.
- Sal, R., Segura, C., Zarzo, D. 2013. Towards a near zero liquid discharge in a
solar-thermal power Industry. Presentado en el Congreso Internacional de la IDA
(International Desalination Association), Tianjin (China), Octubre 2013
- Diaz, J.I., Sanchez, J.M., Sanchez, N. , Veneros, M., Zarzo, D. 2011. Modeling of
Brine Discharges Using Both a Pilot Plant and Differential Equations. Presentado
en el IDA (International Desalination Association) World Congress on
255
Desalination and Water Reuse “Desalination; Sustainable for a Thirsty Planet”,
Sept. 2011, Perth, Western Australia
- Calzada, M., Terrero, P., Campos, E., Zarzo, D., Salcedo, R. 2016. Innovador
proceso de desalación por osmosis directa utilizando citrato de sodio como
agente extractante. Ventajas e inconvenientes. Presentado en el XI Congreso
Internacional de AEDyR, Valencia, 19-21 Octubre 2016.
256
11.2.1. B ENEFICIAL USES OF R EVERSE O SMOSIS B RINES
Domingo Zarzo
ABSTRACT
Desalination technology has been expanded worldwide in the last decades. Along with the major
advantages and benefits resulting from its use, there is still room for improving some key aspects
such as energy consumption or the reduction in environmental impacts, mainly caused by brine
discharge and management.
Brine is simply the concentrate from desalination plants with different composition (mainly inorganic
compounds and a small quantity of chemicals used in process) and concentration depending on
water source, quality and plant recovery. The search of technologies able to recover salts or
commercially profitable compounds from brines is a priority research field, along with other
applications such as energy recovery or energy production. These applications additionally
produce the positive effect of the reduction of brine volume discharged to the environment.
In this chapter, these applications will be outlined, besides to other management systems for
desalination brines. Although it will be focused on brines produced by RO plants, most of the
applications and uses mentioned could be applied for brines from other desalination processes
257
11.2.2. R&D PROJECT FOR SUSTAINABLE TREATMENT OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE WATER
Domingo Zarzo, Ana I. López, Elena Campos, Jose M. Nieto, Francisco Macias, Manuel J. Garcia,
Fco. Javier Mateos and Antonio Belmonte
ABSTRACT
The paper describes a research project regarding the production of water with enough quality for
irrigation or other uses from the Odiel River, Huelva (Spain). The Odiel River is polluted by different
materials from mining activities, mainly metals (iron, aluminum, copper, nickel and zinc), other
elements and inorganic compounds and the resulting drainage water has very low pH water around
3. The project has been financed by the Spanish ERDF–Innterconecta Program funds and has
involved several companies and public research centers.
The main goal of the project is to find the best and cheapest combination of active and passive
water treatment technologies in order to improve the water of the Odiel river basin to achieve the
good ecological and chemical state of water bodies in order to fulfill the requirements of the
European Union Water Framework Directive and to promote the wine and citric agriculture with a
new source of clean water as an economic alternative to the traditional activities in the area.
Several alternatives for the treatment of this type of water have been studied and compared by
different research groups, including passive treatments, active treatment and use of sludge for
sealing tailing, physical-chemical (coagulation-flocculation, precipitation) and membrane treatments
(ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO), with a novel technology for solar driven RO) to get
the best quality of water for reuse. It has also been developed a model of the Odiel river basin and
its reservoirs to analyze the effect of impact on the river quality. With the technology and know-how
developed in this project we contribute to increasing competitiveness and adding value to the
mining operations reducing the impact in the environment and the cost of treating the acidic
drainage.
258
11.2.3. D EVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE AND EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR SOLAR
DESALINATION WITH ZERO LIQUID DICHARGE (ZLD).
Development of an innovative and efficient system for solar desalination with zero liquid
dicharge (ZLD).
Domingo Zarzo, Elena Campos, Francisco Molina, Patricia Terrero, J.L. Cano, Diego Alarcon , Ana
I. Lopez
ABSTRACT
Against this background Sadyt/Valoriza Agua have developed a new desalination process with
liquid zero discharge which takes advantage of high efficiency and ease of operation of the RO
process system, but powered with solar thermal energy, minimizing the liquid discharge, even
reaching its almost complete elimination (ZLD). The system uses low pressure steam (10 bars)
generated in a solar thermal collector plant or by any other steam generation system, using the
mechanical energy of steam to pressurize directly the water entering the osmosis membrane. The
residual low-pressure steam is used to evaporate the brine produced in the RO process by means
a vacuum evaporation system with one or more stages. The results have shown higher energy
efficiency than other conventional thermal processes.
In this article this system will be described and the results obtained with the first built prototype will
be shown.
259
11.2.4. E NERGY RECOVERY AND OPTIMIZATION IN A BRACKISH WATER DESALINATION
PLANT WITH VARIABLE SALINITY
Energy recovery and optimization in a brackish water desalination plant with variable
salinity
ABSTRACT
Management of variable salinity brackish water involves many challenges for the operation of
desalination plants. Design has to be very flexible and consider aspects such as recovery,
temperature, hydraulic balance between stages, working pressure, and as a consequence, energy
consumption.
On the other hand, energy recovery systems in brackish water RO plants are not very common due
to the lower efficiency and economic feasibility working with low pressures and/or flow rates and
depending on the plant size.
Combining the two circumstances (variable salinity and energy recovery), the Cuevas de
Almanzora plant has had an efficient operation for the last 10 years, obtaining energy savings
3
higher than 30% and an energy consumption close to 0.9 Kw-h/m in high pressure and 1.9 Kw-
3
h/m including product water pumping, with salinities between 10,000 and 20,000 µs/cm.
©
The devices installed for energy recovery (Turbocharger ) between stages have enabled the
hydraulic balance between stages and an important energy savings, which is variable and
increases at higher water salinity.
In this paper the evolution of energy consumption and recovery over time will be analyzed for the
last 10 years of operation, as well as the management of electric tariffs which have led to reduced
water production costs. This plant produces water for different agriculture products with different
qualities and prices, depending on the required blending with raw water.
Another relevant aspect considered regarding variable salinity is the evolution of different ion
concentration in raw water (such as sulphates), which has caused problems with recovery and the
use of specific antiscalants.
It is possible that the most surprising result in this operation is the fact that any membrane
replacement has not been required in more than 10 years.
260
11.2.5. T OWARDS A NEAR ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE IN A SOLAR -THERMAL POWER
INDUSTRY
ABSTRACT
In recent times there has been a proliferation of solar thermal power plants, especially in countries
such as Spain where the legislation has been favourable to its implementation.
However, there are several factors that limit the viability of these projects, related to the availability
of water quality and quantity.
For this reason, in these projects is being necessary, apart from having enough water supplies,
maximum reuse and efficient water use.
In the current paper the proposed water treatment solution for a solar thermal power plant in Spain
will be described, with the maximum water reuse, using water from the concentrate of a brackish
Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) plant installed for process water, purges from cooling towers and other
effluents, through an Electrodialysis reversal (EDR), thus obtaining a high degree of global
recovery and water reuse.
Thus the overall water consumption in the installation (and therefore the provision of water supply)
has been reduced by 25-30%.
261
11.2.6. M ODE L LING OF BRINE DISCHARGES USING BOTH A PILOT PLANT AND
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
Modelling of brine discharges using both a pilot plant and differential equations
Jesus I. Diaz, Juan Maria Sanchez, Noemi Sanchez, Marisol Veneros and Domingo Zarzo
ABSTRACT
Using Modelling Theory and Dimensional Analysis a pilot plant has been designed and built to
perform brine discharge testing. These tests have been designed to maintain both geometric
similarity and dynamic similarity between the pilot plant and a brine discharge from a seawater
reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant.
We have simulated the discharge of brine in seawater as a function of several variables such as:
discharged velocity, increased fluid conductivity/concentration between discharge and ambient and
also increased density between discharge and ambient. The results obtained in the pilot plant are
compared with an actual brine discharge, the brine discharge of the Antofagasta SWRO
desalination plant, known as “La Chimba” desalination plant.
Additionally, water solutions discharges with ionized salts and therefore conductivity and dye
discharge (water with suspended solids) have been tested.
Among other results, the plume discharge dynamics and shape of the variety of performed testing
have been described.
Finally, we will present a mathematical model given by a system of nonlinear partial differential
equations, starting with the Navier-Stokes equations of Fluid Mechanics.
262
11.2.7. INNOVADOR PROCESO DE DESALACIÓN POR OSMOSIS DIRECTA UTILIZANDO
CITRATO DE SODIO COMO AGENTE EXTRACTANTE .
V ENTAJAS E INCONVENIENTES .
Innovador proceso de desalación por osmosis directa utilizando citrato de sodio como
agente extractante. Ventajas e inconvenientes.
Calzada, Mercedes; Campos, Elena; Terrero, Patricia; Zarzo, Domingo; Ruiz Beviá, Francisco;
Salcedo, Raquel; García, Pedro y García, Miriam
RESUMEN
En la actualidad y debido a la cada vez más creciente escasez de agua, que afecta no solamente
a países subdesarrollados o en vías de desarrollo sino también a países con un elevado nivel de
desarrollo, se está recurriendo a la obtención de agua mediante la desalación de aguas salobres y
de agua del mar (más de un 90% del agua existente en el planeta) a pesar de que estos procesos
conllevan un consumo energético importante, y una eficiencia energética limitada.
El proceso más frecuentemente utilizado para la desalación es la Ósmosis Inversa OI, proceso del
cual se obtiene agua con baja concentración de sales (agua dulce), pero conlleva un consumo
energético importante. En esta investigación hemos estudiado la osmosis directa OD, como una
posible alternativa que minimice el consumo energético utilizando citrato de sodio como agente
extractante, debido a que esta sustancia es un aditivo regulado muy utilizado en la industria
alimenticia, farmacéutica y química.
La investigación fue realizada a escala de laboratorio con agua salobre de pozo de la desaladora
de Cuevas de Almanzora, Almería. Se realizó una primera etapa de OD utilizando citrato de sodio
2
a una concentración de 40 g/L para unos resultados de flujo específico de 7,0 L/m h y una
retención del 98%. En la segunda etapa de NF se diluyó la corriente hasta unos 20 g/L, con una
2
presión de 7 bar y 26 L/m /h de flujo específico, todo ello con una retención de más de 99%.
A efectos comparativos, para estudiar la viabilidad del proceso, hemos realizado los
correspondientes balances de materia y energía para su extrapolación y comparación con un
proceso de osmosis inversa convencional de similares capacidades.
263
264
12. CONCLUSIONES
La desalación se ha convertido en los últimos años en uno de los recursos de agua no
convencionales más importante, suministrando agua de calidad y en cantidad suficiente
para consumo de millones de personas en todo el mundo y para usos industriales y
agrícolas.
Junto a las grandes ventajas de la desalación hay aspectos que son mejorables como el
consumo energético (que supone el mayor componente del coste de producción de agua)
y el impacto ambiental generado por el vertido o gestión de las salmueras.
Las salmueras son las corrientes de rechazo de los sistemas de desalación cuyas
características dependen de las del agua de aporte y su factor de concentración, junto
con los productos químicos utilizados en el proceso y que éstas pudieran contener.
Los proyectos de investigación presentados en esta tesis y que han dado lugar a los
artículos y presentaciones que forman parte de la misma, cubren la mayor parte de las
alternativas posibles para la gestión de salmueras, desde la caracterización de las
mismas y las sales que contienen, modelización de su vertido, posibles aplicaciones de
las sales y su valorización, uso de tecnologías emergentes, uso de salmueras para
aprovechamiento de energía residual, etc.
Los trabajos de investigación descritos en esta tesis han contribuido al incremento del
conocimiento en esta área de investigación, han suministrado procesos nuevos por medio
de patentes y contribuido a la formación de personal investigador, contando con
numerosos centros de investigación nacionales e internacionales.
Dado que aún no se dispone de un sistema de gestión y tratamiento universal para las
salmueras de desalación, que sea técnica y económicamente viable y sostenible
ambientalmente, todavía queda un importante campo de la investigación en el que
pueden jugar un papel importante las tecnologías emergentes y el uso de las energías
renovables.
265